


the ink-smudged skies

by 1800-canyousavemydream (starcraftgirl)



Category: Twilight Series - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Drama, Eventual Smut, F/M, Fluff, Healthy Relationships, Multi, Romance, Soulmates, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, Unhealthy Relationships
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-08
Updated: 2020-11-02
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:49:12
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 13
Words: 28,887
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26900911
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starcraftgirl/pseuds/1800-canyousavemydream
Summary: arlen lau is a twenty-one year old girl, wild and audacious and free. she lives a mysterious and quiet life despite her reckless, wild-child ways and no one seems to know her beyond what she allows them to see but everyone knows, there's a lot more to her than meets the eye.the volturi kings have ruled over the vampire world longer than most vampires alive can remember. they've destroyed entire covens, ended decade long vampire wars, and solved just about every vampire disaster to ever occur, but they have never dealt with a stubborn, petty human for a mate. and they're unequipped when she turns out to be everything they never expected.(featuring three volturi kings, their frustrating mate, and the entire vampire world gossiping.) [a story told in fragments.]
Relationships: Aro (Twilight)/Caius (Twilight)/Marcus (Twilight)/Original Female Character(s), Edward Cullen/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 9
Kudos: 124
Collections: R's Favourites, R's Twilight





	1. Chapter 1

The crack's of Volterra's court bled, crimson sinking into the stone floor.

The last corpse left of their weekly feeding fell through the center drain; the grate's copper blood-bright and stained. The crimson-tinted teeth and mouths of the Volturi's guard were the last remaining proofs of the savagery that took place while the Kings folded themselves onto their thrones. Their spotless, bespoke suits molded to their graceful forms.

Aro's soot-black waves fell to his shoulders, framing his pale face, the side-part sharp and neat. Not a hair out of place. He stared at the double-mahogany doors as Heidi swayed through them, a sigh on his red-lips as he pictured the monotonous days ahead of their coven until the next feeding. When would something truly exciting happen?

He longed for the early days of his rule, the intrigue, the potential betrayals as he weeded out traitors and the opposition, all outside of the bloodshed and senseless wars Caius advocated for. There were no new specimens to acquire, no talents to collect, no covens to eradicate, no laws to uphold on a large scale since the wars between the Mexico and American borders. No politics to play. Their next meeting with a coven was the Egyptian one, next week, about a potential new member they wished to add. A nomad they stumbled across in Cairo.

His guard lined the throne room, statuesque in their stillness. The lower guard left, dismissed with a wave of Caius' hand, while the Inner Circle remained, waiting for a break in their routine. Aro no longer counted the hours or days, his sense of time blanched by thousands of years of existing.

After some time, a knock resounded, heavy against the wooden doors.

An erratic heartbeat thrummed, like a hummingbird's wings.

Their human secretary.

"AH, Sofia. Come in, dear," Aro said. "What news do you have for us today?"

"A visitor, Master Aro." A curtain of chocolate-brown hair obscured their newest secretary's face from view as she bowed.

A familiar face appeared behind her. Ainsley Murphy. Her sprite-like form remained thin and wan. His memories of her remained unremarkable; she was a white-haired, ungifted nomad from England that travelled the world, avoiding notice from others, vampire and human alike. Her eyes held a dull-film over them, the red dampened to a burgundy. She was an unexpected face but not exciting enough to staunch the wound of boredom permeating their coven.

"Ah, wonderful! Ainsley, a visit after quite some time." He clasped his hands together, legs crossed. "We haven't seen you since Jane and Alec joined our coven."

The nomad twitched, the scent of spilled nectar heavy on her nose.

"I'm here to report a crime," she said. "A rogue newborn in the Americas. Unknown sire. They're close to revealing our existence in Vancouver, British Columbia."

"I see," he said and stood. He held out his hand as he walked down the steps to the floor level. "May you do me the honour?"

She nodded and placed her slight hand in his. Her thoughts were dull; full of feeding and bloodlust common in nomads, relocation plans, and the underlying current of desperation to find a reason to exist. Nothing else of interest outside of what brought her to their court. He parsed through the memories at the forefront of her mind with his typical meticulousness; the news, the human investigation, the public deaths, the panic—everything that brought her here. Aro ignored the trite discomfort presented in the back of her mind, a typical reaction when one offered their thoughts to him.

He released her hand and hummed.

The thought of America brought back memories of Carlisle. How he missed his old friend and his intricate thought patterns, insatiable curiosity, the highs of his hope, and most importantly, his honesty.

"I see," he said. "I insist you remain within the walls of Volterra until the matter is settled. Santiago, lead her to our prepared rooms. There are matters we must settle over the ocean."

A newborn causing trouble somewhere in the American continents.

How uninspiring. How standard.

The typical in the past four hundred years.

"Demetri, Felix, investigate the matter," Aro said. "Bring the perpetrator here for trial. Eliminate him if necessary. I do not need him whole. I doubt the matter is significant, so do as you please."

His execution team disappeared through the doors, his orders heeded.

Aro sat back down, the marble of his throne molded into his stone-hewn body and his idle fingers tapped the alabaster armrest and his unblinking, milk-glossed red eyes wandered. How he yearned for some form of excitement or entertainment among the predictable trials and tribulations of his court in Volterra. Perhaps he'd speak with Carlisle, soon. His old friend was due for a visit.


	2. Chapter 2

Picturesque summer mornings lingered in Vancouver long after the paleness of the clouded dawn absconded.

An unwrinkled, pristine book rested on Arlen's crossed legs as she sipped her iced Americano. Rose-gold sunglasses nestled in her night-dark hair, the thick waves spilling onto her thighs and against her frame like a midnight ocean. Her large, sandalwood brown eyes hid beneath smoky lashes; the mischievous, feline gaze ran stark against her moon-pale skin and pouty lips. Her yolk-yellow, cropped blouse pulled out the golden undertones in her skin and revealed her defined midriff to the summer breeze. The umbrella above her tea table shielded her from the unwanted sun's rays as she lost herself in the crisp white pages of her book.

A bag dropped down on her table and Arlen paused. She slid her bookmark into her book and tucked it into her purse.

"You're already here!" Min beamed.

Her chocolate brown hair, pin-straight and shoulder length, framed her sharp golden-brown features and gorgeous, shining smile. She left her black leather bag on the tea table and sat across from Arlen, long and lean legs crossed over each other in a similar position.

"I wanted to get some reading in so I came early," Arlen acknowledged. "Where's everyone else?"

"You're always early." Min rolled her eyes. "They're stuck with parking. You know how it is around here."

"And it's horrible," Lila Tran announced herself, bold as always. "Isaac is right behind me. Elsie and Tao can't make it. Now, besides this little coffee shop, where to next?"

Lila's black eyes hid behind her aviator sunglasses but it was undoubtedly her vibrant purple hair in a top bun and sleek, black floral dress that caught everyone's attention. It emphasized her elegant, willowy frame as she strode onto the patio.

"Arlen, where to next?" Min asked.

"Uh-uh, not me. This is the first time I've gone anywhere besides home and work in weeks," she said and dusted off her black pants. "You know I rarely take time off."

"Our little workaholic," Lila sighed as she sat down.

"Where's Vince, Arlen? I saw his thirst trap on Instagram. How dare he post one without warning me?" Isaac Kwon strolled in, tall and imposing but tampered by his gentle features and soft grey-brown eyes. He tugged his hand through his thick, black curls.

"No hello for me?"

"I forced my way into your house yesterday," he dismissed and sat down beside her, silky black dress shirt unbuttoned almost to the point of indecency.

"He's working," Arlen said. "Why does everyone ask me where he is?"

"The same reason why everyone asks him where you are when you don't show up."

"What's he even working as?"

Arlen hummed. "It's...a job similar to crime and death investigation. It's with a company, however, and they have strange hours when you start out. I think he's doing training in a morgue, right now."

"What company is this?"

"That's not something I can tell you."

"They're always so mean to the newbies at every job," Min said mournfully.

"It's not like he'd be awake right now by choice anyway," Lila cracked her neck.

"We're lucky if he twitches in his sleep before noon." Isaac stole a sip of Arlen's coffee as she spoke.

"After shopping and hitting up the town, we should drop the cars off at Lila's place." Isaac had decided a sip wasn't enough and stole Arlen's entire drink despite her glare. "So we can hit up the lounge tonight with everyone that can come."

"The lounge? You know, that's a place that spells the beginning of clownery for us," Arlen said.

Lila smirked. "That's the point of going out."

"Oh no," Min giggled.

* * *

The bar and lounge they frequented preferred dim lighting.

Arlen reclined into the black leather loveseat by Lila, leaning against her, and she squinted at her other friends as they sipped their drinks while she abstained with a mocktail in hand. The lounge's music smoothed over them and the other patrons mingled away from the little corner their group of fools unofficially claimed as theirs, missing three people but still theirs. The sleek, glossy white table held their snacks and drinks while they sat around and gossiped, complained, and generally soaked in each other's presence.

Isaac's phone vibrated on the table and he picked it up, glancing at the screen.

"Elsie!" He looked towards the entrance and waved his hand.

Elsie Ng caught every glance in the room with her boundless chestnut-brown waves pinned back in a half-bun and golden-brown skin highlighted by her sleek white dress hugging her hourglass figure.

"Hello, hello, work fucking sucks," Elsie said.

"Tell me about it. God, don't you hate being an adult?" Arlen grumbled.

"Yes," Min said without hesitation. "I'm always afraid of being arrested for tax evasion."

"I do your taxes and the CRA would never come after you," Isaac said dryly.

"We're all gay. Do any of us know how to do proper math?" Lila asked.

"Probably Arlen and Vince, that's it." Min nodded.

Elsie collapsed beside Isaac. "I might just say a fat fuck you to university and work and marry rich. Or go to a technical college."

"I can't even hold a stable relationship because I don't have the time," Lila whined. "Fuck adulthood. I don't want to pay property tax, rent, university tuition, or worry about bills, or work eight hours a day at some boring day job I hate."

"Ugh to all of that but relationships? Fuck me. I need to get back into the game," Isaac complained. "After Adrian, I need a new experience."

"I'll introduce you to some people I've met," Arlen promised. "I have the perfect match in mind."

"A man? A woman? Neither?" He brightened.

"Both. A man and a woman." She winked.

He held a hand over his heart. "Someone who speaks my language."

"And we can always trust Arlen's judgement," Elsie said over the lip of her Long Island Iced Tea.

"Now that we've solved your love life, we need to talk about Arlen's! We need something fun to talk about!" Lila leaned closer towards the exasperated girl. "Well, see anyone cute recently?"

"Yeah, I'm remodeling the office in my house and I fell in love with this oak wood desk," she said dryly. "Sexiest thing I've ever seen."

"Boo." Min pouted. "I can't believe you choose to be busy and work for fun."

"Not for fun," Arlen corrected. "As a favor."

"You can't even use the excuse of 'I'm too young'." Isaac sprawled out. "You're twenty-one now. No interests?"

"No interest in relationships," she corrected. "If I want to fly across the ocean tomorrow to Singapore because I want to, I'd have to tell the person I'm dating, and can you imagine me of all people being emotionally vulnerable? Embarrassing."

Lila hummed. "No wonder you only have flings."

Elsie sighed and scooted closer to Min. She laid her head on the other girl's shoulder. "We can't relate can we, hm?"

"Disgustingly cute," Lila murmured.

Arlen shook her head and picked up an oyster. Lila scanned the lounge for the fourth time since they arrived and she perked up before deflating. She followed Arlen's lead in eating a snack from their table. Everyone else seemed to notice the quick look despite the alcohol inhibiting their judgement. Min's brows furrowed before she settled into Elsie's side more comfortably.

"He's cute but I've seen better," Elsie commented.

Isaac followed her gaze and eyed up the man in question before he scoffed. "Sure, but not my type and definitely not as hot as Vince."

"Or Arlen." Lila ran her fingers through her thick, night-black hair. A play at flirting.

She smirked and tapped the other girl's lips, painted a blotted pink. "Or you."

Arlen decided to look at the man they were talking about. Her eyes flickered to the bar and found herself unenchanted by the grotesque, familiar beauty she had seen so many times in her life. The unnaturally flawless, marble-smooth skin touched by an underlying glow akin to crushed diamonds untouched by light blurred over sharp, symmetrical features meant for artwork. A type of perfect meant for distant admiration. Anything closer would raise hairs, anything close and any human's eyes would forcibly avert, unable to confront something so perfect in a living body with ease. His dark eyes were stark against his pale skin and snowy hair but thankfully, he ignored their little group of friends and focused on a giggling pair of girls at the other end of the bar.

A weight settled in her stomach but she ignored it.

The light shifted and the red undertones appeared.

She burrowed her head into the crook of Lila's neck.

"We better leave this place after we finish the snacks. I heard there's this new horror escape room near the north end and it's like three hours long and they even have drinks."

"Oh god, an escape room with you four while drunk?" Arlen muttered. "I really am the designated dumbass."

* * *

Night settled on Vancouver like a soft rain.

The city lights on her drive home, after dropping off her little drunkards, reflected off the vehicles and sleek, modern building as she drove across the Lion's Gate bridge to her home by the seaside, sectioned off from all the neighbours and prying eyes on the streets by a tall thicket of cedar trees, reinforced by a wall and gate. The iron gates opened for her and closed behind her SUV and she parked it along the curving driveway, stumbling to the French doors of her home.

She opened the giant doors and removed her shoes.

_"Tonight, another body was found in East Hastings—"_

"Vince," she called out, exhausted, as she headed for the unlit living room where lights flashed into the hallway.

"Here. There was another murder. Have you seen the news?"

A sole silhouette sprawled out on her navy-blue sectional while the TV's bright, LED screen illuminated the dark room. Muddy amber eyes rested on her in the dark and Vince's glossy, black hair curled away from his face while his flawless, pale skin resembled the marble coffee table in the centre of the room. He sat up, perfectly sculpted features and lips set in a grimace, fitting for his saturnine face.

"I heard," she said. "But the more important question of the night is, why are you sitting in the dark, waiting for me like a stalker?"

She flicked on the lights on and left her purse on the entryway table, settling beside him.

"Saving the environment," he said.

"My house is solar-powered, idiot."

"Did you see the news?" he repeated.

"Yes," she said.

"Any ideas?"

"Vince, I'm an interior designer and biotech consultant on paper. I don't solve crimes or chase after crazies with my binders of paint swatches and furniture catalogues."

"But you know," he pressed, "I'll find out anyway when I head to work. It's headed to my morgue."

She sighed and lifted up her coffee table's top to pull out of a tin of mints and pop one in her mouth. She stretched out her legs. "It's a vampire. Exsanguination like that doesn't happen by accident but you already know that. You know how it'll go, though. They'll rule out the existence of vampires and assume it's one of those satanic cults or vampire fanatic turned serial killer."

She pursed her lips at the blurred body wrapped in plastic flashing across the screen.

"Are you completely sure?"

"Doubting me?" She rolled her neck. "I saw him today at the bar and you know I keep a tally of the vampires that enter the city. He's new, definitely, and those eyes were red. Well, reddish. Newborns usually retain their natural eye color for a month or two which is why his eyes look like that."

"What does he look like?"

"White, white-blond hair, red eyes but they're pretty dark. Newborn, probably, but with...extreme control. Mid-twenties and definitely prefers female victims."

"Probably heterosexual, too."

Arlen nodded.

"You know, you never answered my question when I...turned." He craned his neck to look at her. "How'd you know so much about vampires?"

She rolled the mint against her teeth and glanced at him out of the corner of her eyes. "How does anyone know anything?"

The news continued on in the background as the white lights above their head kept the room well-lit, staving the dark night away. The weight in Arlen's stomach remained heavy, more so than usual.

People like her never got to live the quiet lives they deserved, did they?


	3. Chapter 3

When the venom re-birthed him, he almost lost himself to the flames.

In the madness, Arlen became his saving grace when he woke in a quaking shack of an abandoned ghost town hours from known civilization. She held all the answers behind pearly teeth clenched tight beneath a smile. He remembered her large eyes in the dark, the calmness she exuded, her soft voice as she explained to him what happened; his one tether to sanity and humanity. Not once has he itched to kill her, the thought of her blood coating his teeth never came to mind when she sat on a rock and patiently taught him how to hunt elk and cougars with a fresh set of clothes waiting on her lap. She stayed with him for weeks, somehow rehabilitating him into the person he once was.

She kept her secrets close to heart, mouth locked with a lost key, but he never doubted her love or protection.

How could he with every single thing she risked for him? How could he, standing in front of her house, requesting her help, offered freely without strings?

Arlen protected her friends and family with an iron wall. She stuck her neck on the guillotine for them whenever possible. She stayed with him during his lowest of lows, non-judgmental and patient beyond belief, a well of knowledge carved deep in her mind.

He shook off his rain dampened hair, messenger bag slung over his shoulder as he opened the door to Arlen's overindulgent mansion but he stayed with her more often than not, as of late, so he didn't complain. She waited for him in the living room, watching the news, impatience coiled along her like a ready to strike serpent. A steaming cup of tea and a plate of macarons sat on the coffee table, untouched.

"What's wrong?" he asked as he dried himself off and shucked off his wet clothes.

"Another murder," she said. "This time he threw her off a building onto the sidewalk. He wants the attention."

"Serial killer tendencies." Vince rubbed his jaw.

"The victims all look the same. Blonde, green eyes, petite, and pretty." She crossed her arms and leaned into the couch cushions. "What'd you find?"

"Drained dry," he said and handed her the files he copied and snuck out. "Her friends reported her gone for an hour at most. Not enough time for another human being to drain a body of blood. Fully, too. He left a lot of bite wounds. Savagely. Tore out pieces of flesh too."

She shook her head, brow pinched. "He can't be a newborn but he most definitely looks like one. Controlled, careful, and he feeds on specific targets instead of...anyone he can get his hands on. Newborns run rampant with their thirst. Spilled blood can cause unstoppable frenzies and the need to feed on as many people he can get."

"You said I'm a newborn," Vince pointed out as he hung up his bag and coat, several files on the five victims in hand. He set them down on the table. "I haven't gone crazy yet."

"You're also a vampire who doesn't believe in senseless violence and my gift stifles your thirst. Also, when I'm not around, you're hanging out with dead bodies in a cold, dark room with no other living people for company for eight hours a day."

Vince paused. "Did you have to add that last part in?"

She smirked, like the bastard she was. "Am I wrong? Also, go put on clothes. I'm not Isaac. I don't appreciate this view."

He rolled his eyes and headed up to his guest room to change. When he came back, Arlen had the files open and spread out on the coffee table. She flipped through the files, expressionless, unbothered by the horror in front of her.

"I'm sure it's him," he said.

"You're probably right but we'll investigate first and then, if we're right, we'll create a plan to kill him. We don't need eyes turned to Vancouver right now. Well, we don't ever need certain eyes turned in our direction."

"Who's eyes?" he asked, brows furrowed.

"Even the vampire world has rules and for there to be rules...there has to be someone who enforces them, no? We don't like to tangle with the law anywhere so if it's him, let's resolve the problem quick."

"And if it is him, what are we going to do?"

"We'll lure him out."

"Lure him out?" he echoed, questioning.

She pursed her lips and her inky-black eyelashes fluttered over her pale cheeks. "I've got a fantastic idea."

"Arlen, I can crush metal by just closing my fist and smash concrete with a flick of my finger. I ran us to Northern British Columbia faster than a car. You said all vampires share a baseline speed and strength. What can you even do to him? He's not a regular person you can just stab or shoot."

"What I can think of, what you can do, and what we can do together," she corrected. "Hard to kill doesn't mean impossible and I've been told, several times, that if I extend my legs like this, I look delicious enough to eat."

"You're so fucking crazy," he muttered.

"So, let's investigate and see if he's committing these murders. You wanna pull surveillance on this together or alone?" She wiggled her fingers.

"Together and alone. We'll scout the city and see if he leaves any evidence, we'll find it and I'll pursue it alone."

"I suppose I'll have to wear my investigator's outfit, won't I?"

He rolled his eyes but submitted himself to her craziness. Who else would help him kill a vampire?

* * *

Deep in the heart of Volterra's main castle, Caius reveled in his solitude among his creations.

He stilled himself among the masterpieces in progress, eyes tracing each stroke left behind by the fine hairs of the paintbrushes. The minutest of details sketched out beneath his unrelenting, unblinking gaze as he pored over his collections like a dragon over gold and jewels. Violets splayed the edges of one, the cool tones sharp against the white canvas, and blood-red slashed across another, a mosaic of a battle he still taste on his tongue. The gods had blessed his brothers with gifts and left him with nothing but his ambition, bitterness, and a thirst for battle.

And this one gift.

For a man born and bred into destruction, at the height of war in Greece, the gods left him the ability to create.

Venom coated his mouth at the thought of gods and religion.

He never imagined himself so stagnant; him, the golden gladiator and war strategist, baptised by a deathlessness stealing glory and fire for violence in spades.

Without ambition, without a goal, anger brewed deep in his chest.

A resentment at the still existence afforded to him.

An iron splinter of fear embedded in his core hidden by the churning, snarling fires he tended to desperately.

* * *

Two empty Starbucks cups sat on the table, taunting her.

Arlen rubbed her face, papers and file folders scattered around her as she stuck her feet under Vince's legs.

"Okay, they're all taken from Downtown Vancouver at night during prime clubbing hours and he dumps their body in East Hastings," she said. "As a vampire, he can easily jump from roof to roof and dump the bodies with ease. Using the main streets during this time is especially dangerous considering how easy it would be to get caught so we're left with checking alleyways and rooftops. Some rooftops are easily ruled out because they're too low an easily visible from the ground."

"If he heads on rooftops, maybe he might've been caught on a security feed?"

Arlen pursed her lips. "We'll have to wipe those then if we do find that he was caught."

"Why?"

"The vampire world has rules and those rules exist for a reason. What do you think would happen if human beings discovered a top predator that sustains on them for food?" She quirked a brow. "The same thing we always do. War and destruction. Not just that but you could get in trouble."

"Okay. I can do that. Hacking is pretty easy. Just do a running and looping feed and we'll be set."

"He'll probably have preferred rooftops too. We can use that to track him and put me at the center of his attention."

"God, I hope this works."

"It will," Arlen said. "I'll meet up with you in the area he abducts the girl tomorrow. I'm swinging around Chinatown for groceries then."


	4. Chapter 4

Arlen tucked her hands into her jacket pockets.

The bright sun shone in her eyes as her bluetooth earbuds hooked around her ears as she looked around at the crowd. She walked up and down the street, dodging people as she weaved among everyone else, keeping aware. The awning of a bubble tea cafe blocked out the sun as she began to observe the people on the street; unobservant, unaware, and all potential, easy targets for vampire even in broad daylight if their sparkly skin didn't give away their true nature.

"Well, you could easily get taken here especially at that speed and at nighttime. How's it looking up there?"

 _"I can see two of the nightclubs but not the third,"_ Vince said. _"Let me split to two over."_

"You do that," she muttered.

He cut out for a second before he fizzled back in. _"I think it's this building I'm on. It's the Delta. There's a non-human scent here and I can see all three nightclubs our victims came from."_

"Well, that solves that mystery."

_"Now, what?"_

"There's an underground parking lot near that one language school. They don't keep camera's down there for a few reasons and I think that sunscreen protection is going to run out for you soon."

_"Yeah, it feels terrible too. Does it always feel like this?"_

"Now do you understand why I hate going outside?" She ducked into the cover of darkness and walked down the alley towards their meeting place as she hung up. She ignored the people staring at her and headed into the parking lot, rushing down the stairs. "Vince!"

"Here. So, what are we going to do?" Vince tugged off the hood of his black hoodie.

"We're going home and revising a workable plan then we're making backup plans because if I know anything about our plans is that they never go right on the first try."

"Are we doing it tonight?"

"I mean, unless you want to find another body tomorrow morning, then yes we are. Chop, chop, you know?"

"Well then, my lady, shall we go?" He held out his hand, bowing mockingly like a knight.

Arlen rolled her eyes and took his hand.

They disappeared into the shadows.

* * *

The stark white ceiling of her living room loomed over Arlen as her neck curved to the sofa's edge. A constellation, night sky mural might add interest to her room without disrupting the cool but cozy aesthetic she chose for her living room or perhaps an oil painting recreating a movie still scene of flowers. She tapped her fingers on her thigh; there were so many possibilities. Vince set down a steaming cup of tea in the only spot left empty of their research. She stretched out to grasp it, the warm ceramic nearly too hot in her palms, and she sipped at it. A citrus concoction, tingly against her bottom lip, and the honeyed sweetness coated her teeth and tongue.

"Yuzu honey tea," she guessed.

"Correct," Vince said. He picked up one of the folders and skimmed through it, amber eyes untouched by exhaustion. "You should take a nap."

"Not before we run through my plans and prepare for tonight." She rolled her shoulders. "We need a place to kill him."

He handed her a file folder. "Here's the list I made. They're all ghost towns. Abandoned for a while but I'm not sure if they're all still abandoned considering that can change from a day to day basis."

"Not Bamberton," she mumbled and set aside that folder, "it's seaside that can erase our scent and he's most definitely not a tracker." She fiddled with her phone, flipping through several tabs. "Can people stop inhabiting ghost towns? They were abandoned for a reason and they're making our job difficult. We just want to kill someone, is that too much to ask for?"

"Phoenix?" he suggested and tapped her phone screen. "It's in the middle of no where, there's mountains, no one to hear anything and if they do, I doubt they'll investigate unless they're prime idiots. It's close enough that we'll be in and out at a reasonable time."

"We can always be in and out in a reasonable amount of time," she said and gave him a flat look.

He smirked and reached over to turn on the television. "So, you answering any of my questions?"

"One."

"You always smell good but not edible and sometimes it even disappears entirely. Why?"

"I'm not that different from you. How else do you think I managed to help you with your powers? You probably would've ended up in the middle of Siberia if you tried it alone."

Vince leaned further back, rock-hard arm cushioning his head. "Even when you answer my questions, you're so vague."

"Well, Phoenix is a good choice," she decided and ignored his critique. "Now, we just need to catch his attention and let him hunt me down so we can kill him."

"Are we sure we want to kill him?"

"I mean, I'm not against murder." Arlen shrugged. "At least, not if the person deserves it and he definitely deserves it. You can drink blood without inflicting the most amount of pain on who you're feeding from."

"God, you talk about murder like it's easy."

"Because it is. Once we get to Phoenix, I'm going to distract him with a gun and a show of absolute human stupidity that'll stop him in his tracks and possibly make him want to kill me even more."

"Where are you even going to get a gun? Do you even have a permit?"

"Don't worry about that. I already have them." She pulled out a G17 from a secret compartment beneath the coffee table's top and a G36 from underneath the couch and set them down on the table. "I have more around the house too but we're not using these. We're going to leave a shotgun in a clearing."

"I guess this is one of those questions where I'm just better off not knowing the answer."

She smiled. "I get my guns where I get everything else."

"Yeah and I don't know where that is."

"Well, there are reasons things remain secrets but you could easily find out where." Arlen laid her head on his lap. "Maybe I'll just tell you one of these days instead of making you run around for answers."

"How are you even going to catch his attention? You said you'd never bleach your hair again and colored contacts don't look that real to the vampire eye."

"I know men like him. If I act right, even if I don't look like his type, he won't be able to resist the hunt." She slotted herself closer against his thigh, tiny against his large frame, and she shifted until she was comfortable. "He likes to cause pain and target what he thinks will be easy to break but he's evolving now. He wants more of a challenge. That's why his kill time has shortened. Something or someone that'll take time to break but is completely capable of being afraid. It's really not difficult to make people want to kill you."

"That's a real concerning sentence."

"And you're helping with your scent," she added. "Other vampires love the challenge of killing a human associated with another vampire."

"You ever going to tell me how you know all of this?"

Arlen hummed and played with the ends of her hair. Vince sighed as he played with her hair and ran his fingers along her scalp.

"The plan begins when I catch his attention and we'll pop around Vancouver to leave my scent around. He won't stop chasing me especially if you enter the picture. A psychopath like that being challenged? Easy peasy." She waved it off. "Then we'll head to Phoenix while leaving a trail and you're going to drop me off in that clearing, pretending to go and chase him. Then, you know what to do next."

"How are we going to kill him? You said vampires don't die even if they have their head taken off."

"Ever seen a Molotov in action?"

"No, considering you told me to stay away from fire and not everyone has Molotovs thrown at them because they're that irritating."

"Don't have to have one thrown at you to know how one works."

* * *

The sun's unforgiving light unveiled all the flaws of the bland modern architecture of metropolitan cities in the Americas.

Vancouver looked like every other modern city he's ever visited. Demetri rolled his neck as he stood beside the window of their accommodations, overlooking the seaside city their Masters sent them to while Felix lazed on the chaise, watching the local news covering the story about the latest victim left out on the streets to rot, drained of blood. He itched to track down their newest assignment but unlike the typical rainy day in Vancouver, the sun shone. They'd have to wait for nightfall in the summer city struck sick by light and the ocean breeze. Four hours until they could stalk the rooftops and track down the scent of the vampire wreaking havoc and threatening to reveal their secret.

A blink of an eye in their lifespan.

And a blink of an eye it was.

The city darkened into a neon playground meant for the nightlife that made the humans so vulnerable to their kind. He slipped onto the hotel's rooftop with Felix and scanned as they flew over the city, rooftop from rooftop. Vampires, of all kinds, passed through this city often enough but rarely did they enter major city hubs in fear of their loss control. A nomad among the humans? Such a strong scent was easy enough to track and once he caught even the slightest signatures of his target's mind, he could track them to the ends of the Earth from the Arctic Ocean to Antarctica.

Felix hunted with a grace many underestimated for a man of his size.

"I believe we've found him," Felix said and pointed down at the streets full of people.

Still partying despite the public murders and warnings for vigilance.

The sharp visage, the blood red eyes bidden behind thin contacts, the fresh scent of newly spilt blood but such an ease amongst the humans. Demetri believed they had found their target but something was wrong about him. He moved too carefully, kill too much with a particular taste newborns couldn't have, and he walked among the humans with ease. They had suspected the vampire wasn't a newborn but the confirmation left a rush of satisfaction.

"Interesting," Demetri commented. "Our informant was incorrect. Not a newborn after all."

Felix grinned. "Master Aro will forgive us if he happens to die, won't he?"

Demetri rolled his eyes. "But I suspect Master Aro will want the matter dealt with to our discretion. One nomad death matters not. Justice will be served regardless of what we choose. He will die here or in Volterra."

"Perfect." Felix's pearly teeth glinted, knife-sharp grin in place as his bloodthirstiness took over.

They had a hunt to complete.

* * *

He stalked the streets of Vancouver.

The night hid the crushed diamond glow of his skin, the aberration unnoticed from the neon lights polluting the night's pretend gloom. Humans bustled around him, drunken or sober, but annoying as a swarm of insects buzzing. A snarl hid deep in his chest when a man brushed up against him. No one appealed to him. Their blood too thin, too pliant, too easy to drain—his teeth ached to sink into resistance. He spotted a small blonde girl from three blocks away.

He grunted, arm purposely giving way among the crowd.

Wide, fluttering brown eyes caught his gaze, blocking off the blonde.

A pretty little doll glanced up at him; the quickest flash of delicious fear filtered through her gaze before her eyes hardened and she turned her head full of ink-black waves and fled into the night crowd. Her lithe but athletic form, clad in all-black, blended amongst the humans. Gone in seconds. He sniffed the air and the arm she bumped into; in her wake, she left the faintest scent of peonies and roses, almost overshadowed by the faint oceanic breeze and smoke and recreational drugs typical of Metro Vancouver that wrinkled his nose.

He breathed deeper this time; the faintest scent of vampire.

So, she belonged to someone.

His eyes flickered and a vicious grin pulled at his lips.

How quick disappointment shifted into thrill.


	5. Chapter 5

A night thread wove through Vancouver as Arlen flew through the crowds filling the streets.

A whisper of wind between the sprawled skyline and high-rises and neon nightlife of downtown. She whirled into Eihu Lane and Vince caught her in his rock-hard grip as she skidded to a stop, barely panting. He held onto her like a lifeline and his eyes gleamed like amber stone caught in the sun.

"Let's go on a chase," she breathed.

"As you wish, young miss," he muttered.

"Oh god, shut up."

"We're jumping to Kitsilano. Everything is set up."

* * *

The nomad prowled around the city's edge, sniffing the air.

His contacts had long dissolved due to the venom and revealed ruby-red eyes flickering, left to right. His limbs remained loose but his body tensed as he slipped into the crowds of people. They tracked him from the rooftops to the eagle's perch as they shadowed his every movement but he walked with no direction, aimless but focused.

"Think he caught us tailing him?"

"No," Demetri said. "I believe he's hunting his target but he hasn't found the trail. Strange. You'd think he'd easily find whichever human he wants."

"Just one human?" Felix grunted. "If he's hungry, can't he just drain the ones in the alley and look for her another day?"

"A connoisseur. An impatient one." Demetri hazarded it as a possibility. All his victims, aside from their coloring and frame, had a little picturesque sweetness about them in the photos before their deaths; something incorruptible the wicked yearned to crush between their fingers.

"We always get the crazy bastards."

He agreed silently but this was the first missions in a decade the Masters assigned to them with the slightest hint of unpredictable action. A nomad was no coven extermination but it was enough to slake his thirst for a good fight. He and Felix could easily play with the nomad.

The nomad absconded the city limits, fangs bared, a whirlwind left in his wake.

"Finally," Felix muttered.

* * *

The nomad travelled and stopped several times, as if lost, before he began to follow a new trail.

With every stop, his glee increased, while Demetri and Felix followed from a distance, unnoticed.

Something prickled, something suspicious, as they disappeared up the mountains behind the nomad.

A human managed to traverse such a distance in less than an hour? An automobile at full speed, no matter how fast, wasn't an option. There were no helicopters in sight. He couldn't pick up another vampire scent in the area nor were there any other living things other than the stray bird, rodent, deer, or elk. There was more to the prey the nomad hunted, he was sure. The pines and firs and hemlocks unraveled but they trailed after the nomad's single-minded hunt. The thrill rendered the fool blind to his surroundings.

They landed in the trees on the mountain side, silent as shadows, eyes on the clearing. Demetri crouched on a branch, weightless.

Their target lingered at the edge of a clearing and he sucked in a lungful of air, almost relishing it. His leather jacket blended into the night where his snow=blond hair acted as a beacon to announce his arrival. The prey stood in the center of the clearing, bag on the ground and a rifle in hand. Her pale skin glowed under the full moon's half-light, and her ink-black hair feel over her slight form in a high tail, brushing against her waist. Several unruly pieces framed her narrowed, catlike eyes. She blended into the night, clad in all-black, skintight clothes.

Demetri's brow pinched.

The girl knew the nomad was following her?

"Hello, hello, sweet thing," the nomad crooned. "I didn't expect you to dress up for me."

"Don't worry, it's not for you." The rifle's barrel remained trained on him and the girl's lips curled, either in amusement or disgust, Demetri couldn't quite decipher in the dark. Dimples appeared on both sides of her cheeks. "I always look like a snack."

He smirked at the audacity the girl wore.

"Oh, you're a funny one. No wonder your vampire keeps you around. Where is he? Looking for me?"

"That's me. Hilarious."

Dodging questions. Perhaps she didn't have the answer. They'd have to investigate further into the other vampire.

"Well, do you have a name pretty girl?" he purred.

"Not polite to ask for names without introducing yourself."

"Ezra, lovely," he said. "Now, yours?"

"Arlen. Any reason you decided to follow me from downtown Vancouver all the way to this ghost town in the middle of the mountains or did you think this was a great idea for a meet-cute? Very serial kill of you if so."

He laughed, bone-white grin exposed. "The most fun one I've had yet. Maybe I'll have to change my type after this."

"I thought it was you killing those girls." Her chest rose and fell with each slow breath she took as she steadied her arms and the gun. The weak human heart in her chest calm it's beat. She dug her feet into the ground. "Thanks for the confirmation."

"Stupid little thing," Felix remarked, amused. "Useless in a fight with a vampire while taunting one? She'll deserve that death. Bullets don't work on us."

Demetri frowned.

He leaned back into the tree and waited for the nomad to drain the girl before they killed him. All vampires subject to Volturi justice at the hands of Felix and his more bloodthirsty comrades within the guard never escaped with their lives when the Masters left the discretion of their sentence to them. But something else needled at him, hovering at the edge of his thoughts. The girl's implied knowledge of their world and unnatural speed in arriving to the area aside, the calmness she exuded in her situation bordered on apathetic. Humans, in a situation like this where they were prey being hunted, panicked and even the fastest vampire couldn't easily outrun another. How did the other vampire manage to deposit their human and disappear without leaving a trace of them behind?

The human would die tonight, anyway, but perhaps they should interfere and keep her alive to discover how she knew about their world and how much she knew. Perhaps there were more serious laws being broken but they could easily track down another vampire and execute them as well.

He brushed his musings off.

The girl would die and they would accomplish their mission and return home.

The girl breathed and shot straight at the nomad's neck. The bullet lodged into his skin, the stone surface fracturing outwards from the impact point, and the metal splintered. Shrapnel hit the ground. His flesh knitted back together. Blank brown eyes blinked, unfazed and immovable.

Demetri narrowed his eyes. "His survival doesn't surprise her."

"What are you thinking?" Felix glanced at his partner from the corner of his eyes.

"She knows too much. The Masters would want to interrogate her."

She shot the nomad again.

"It won't work," Ezra called out. His crimson eyes glinted, hunger-ridden. "I'm indestructible but you can keep trying. It's futile."

The girl fired at him in succession. His neck resembled a glass catastrophe but his skin continued to regenerate after each bullet. Demetri kept a close but disinterested eye on the one-sided fight while Felix gleefully witnessed the unusual event as the girl's struggle to survive was meaningless. There was one outcome if they didn't step in. Death for the girl and for the nomad for breaking their laws. Perhaps there was no purpose in digging deeper than intended. Her knowledge would die with her.

The rifle tremored in her hands, emptied. Her heartbeat remained slow and steady, unafraid as she met the Ezra's eyes.

"Now," she said.

Another vampire appeared from nowhere and tore the nomad's head off. The girl pulled out a bottle with a soaked cloth from her bag, lighter in hand, and she set it ablaze. She smashed the bottle onto the nomad's decapitated body. Fire consumed the corpse and the flames roared, louder than lions, and singed the ground. The scent of ashes floated towards them. The new vampire dropped the head on the burning body and it sparked the fire like lighter fluid.

Felix exchanged glances with Demetri. The tracker pursed his lips; a human surviving a direct conflict with a vampire neared an impossible feat and they hadn't even noticed the other vampire's presence. The mission grew more complicated the less they acted.

Demetri's lips curled downward in disgust once he caught sight of the new vampire's eyes. Amber. An animal drinker.

The girl's hip jutted out, eyes dancing in the firelight. "What did I say? What did I say? It worked."

"Was shooting him even necessary?"

"Distraction and ease of head removal." She tossed her hair.

"You talk about decapitation like you're out getting bubble tea." The animal drinker stared at the burning body. "God, I'm not stepping near another firepit. I didn't know we were that flammable. I guess there was a reason you warned me to stay away from fire. Premium fireworks, we are. Maybe I'll die for a fantastic Canada Day celebration."

"You're just a newborn." She rolled her eyes. "You're not supposed to know everything yet. So, what was it like seeing your first Molotov?"

"Underwhelming."

"I guess it's not as fun as seeing it being thrown while on a car chase in the middle of a highway leading out of the country."

"What the fuck, Arlen."

"A newborn?" Felix whispered. "He's rather... tame."

The animal drinker froze and turned in the direction of their voices. He grasped the girl by the arm. "Arlen, someone is up there."

"Fuck," the girl swore. "We should've picked a more remote location. Cassiar might've been a better choice. Who the fuck travels up there by choice? No one sane."

The newborn sucked in a breath. "They're vampires."

Deemtri jerked his head towards the pair and Felix launched off their tree at this direction. The two of them flew through the air and crossed through the trees. Their feet hit the ground running. He spotted the pair through the heavy brush and night foliage, their features clear, but he couldn't quite catch the flavor of their minds to track.

The girl's eyes shot wide open at the sound and grabbed the animal drinker. "We have to go."

"Where?"

"Home, now!"

The two Volturi guards broke through the tree-line but before they knew it, the pair vanished from the clearing. Felix growled and Demetri picked up the dirt, rubbed it in his hands, and sniffed the air. Nothing but the old, packed earth, trees, and ashes.

"Their scent trail is gone."

* * *

Dewy grass and freshly watered bushes cushioned their fall.

The devil's hour darkened the sky, dawn no where in sight. Arlen stood on shaky knees like a newborn doe as she pushed herself up against the oak tree in her backyard. Vince laid on the ground, eyes on the stars, and despite his lack of need for air, he sucked in deep breaths. She crawled over to sit next to him.

"We need to work on your landing." Arlen gripped his arms and breathed softly. "Did you see what they looked like? You need to tell me now."

"No." He shook his head. "Why does it matter?"

"It matters." She rolled the words over in her head, unable to explain in a satisfactory way. "Why do you think vampires don't just rage and run rampant everywhere and expose their identity? Why hasn't humanity discovered vampirism on a worldwide scale? I told you, all places with laws are governed by people who enforce them and vampires have their own rulers. They're dangerous, they punish without discrimination, there is no forgiveness in the walls of their empire. And that's what it is. An empire, like Rome was once. Every vampire answers to them when the time comes and anyone with knowledge of the vampire world is subjected to a choice; die or change."

"But you knew about this even before some fucker bit me and made me into a bloodsucker."

"That won't matter to them but you have an advantage. They can't ever catch you and the Volturi collect vampires with powers so you can disappear forever or they'll allow you to live and join them."

"But what about you?"

She said nothing.

"Arlen, we have lives outside of this," he said. "What about our other friends? What about the lives we built? Does none of that matter?"

"I didn't ask for this to happen!" she snapped softly. "If I had it my way, I'd be living my life in peace and quiet and somehow forget all about this world. I'm here because you got bit and wanted to save some lives which is commendable if it didn't get us thrown under the bus."

"Sorry," he muttered.

"It doesn't matter anymore," she said. "No changing the past. We find a solution or the solution to the problem is avoid them until they forget about is which is unlikely."

"Do you have a plan?"

"I had several back up plans made when you were first bitten. You think I didn't predict you dragging me into some clownery as a vampire? I did." She shook her head. "I didn't ever plan for the Volturi though."

"Your plans? Care to explain?"

"Well, there is one. Especially if they come back but you're not going to like it."


	6. Chapter 6

The morning sun glazed Didyme's garden pale yellow.

Every green lead and dark stem glinted as he lingered between the high hedges his long deceased love planted with her lithe fingers during the first centuries after they built Volterra. He wandered into the gardens after the memory of his wife returned to him but something nagged incessantly at his instincts when he left his personal, paper-strewn study. His gift twisted and writhed beneath his skin like a shedding snake. He sighed and sat down upon the stone bench set by the grave of his beloved, her ashes deep beneath the earth in an urn of his own making. He could hear her laughter in the breeze and feel her fingers still dancing over his skin or in his long, shoulder-length hair. Some days it hurt to even look Aro in the face for he carried the slightest features Didyme held boldly.

"Oh, Didyme, I miss you," he whispered.

His gift continued to rend his senses, an undiscovered bond tugging at him, but he had no explanations despite his research and even the ghost of his late love couldn't soothe him.

The summer winds drifted through the garden.

His grief welled up in his chest, almost humming with how alive it was, a familiar song among the flowers.

* * *

Darkness draped over the Volturi's private library despite the day beyond their castle's stone walls.

Few windows allowed light in and the hints slipping through revealed floating dust. Hand-carved mahogany wood shelves held many thick, leather-bound tomes while the flat sides depicted many ancient and classic Grecian and Roman plays. Warm red velvet chairs scattered around a small corner where two of the Volturi Kings analyzed the newest editions to their collection gathered through their travels and guards as they traversed all over the world. Aro lounged on his preferred velvet chaise, legs crossed, and he held a book from the Ancient Egyptians in his hands as he puzzled over it's origins. Perhaps he should visit Amun's abode, he had not seen the man's home since he liberated Demetri from him.

A knock echoed against the wooden doors and reverberated throughout the room.

Ah, as if his thoughts were summons.

Renata appeared from the darkness of a corner. "Demetri and Felix have returned, Master Aro, and they wish to give their report about the nomad incident."

"Send them in, Renata. I assume their mission was successful. They always are."

His shield bowed her head and headed back for the door. His tracker and executioner appeared at the library doors and knelt before their Kings, unruffled by their trip.

"Master Aro." Demetri bowed his head. "The situation with the nomad is resolved."

"Wonderful. Well done," he complimented. "Now, Renata, we may allow Ainsley to leave. Let her know that we wish her safe travels."

"Before that, Master Aro, the mission had complications," Felix elaborated after a moment's hesitation.

"Complications?" Caius shut his books. His narrowed eyes held a palpable fury like an animal's tensed body before it attacked. "How is it possible for there to be complications over such a simple task? Eliminate the nomad or retrieve them. They are burned, are they not?"

"He is, Master Caius, but the complication did not arise from the nomad as we did not eliminate him. Another had the honor before we had the chance."

Aro uncrossed his legs and stood. Demetri offered his hand with a bow of his head and Aro grasped it, parsing through the memories with a devouring, apathetic eye until a girl appeared. Her sandalwood eyes caught the full moon's light among their hard, relentless depths and her night-black tresses curled from her ponytail into her frame as the sheer recklessness and foolishness of her left the weapon steady in her arms. An interesting mortal among the many cattle, but she would not last against any of their kind.

Until she did with a blaze broken from a bottle and the help of a newborn with a gift he had yet to acquire.

He let go of Demetri's hand.

There was only one choice.

"Well?" Caius snapped.

"A human exists with awareness of our kind. Enough to kill the nomad after he hunted her with the aid of a newborn, brother."

"What?" his brother hissed. "And did this newborn inform her of our kind?"

"I believe he did not," Aro confided.

"We need the girl and her source of information." Caius bristled at the thought of anyone disobeying their laws with such ease and carelessness. Did they not know the effort that went into keeping their kind at peace with the humans? Under their notice? They slaved away for decades creating law and order. Aro understood his brother down to the marrow but he had wanted something interesting.

He wished for something interesting to capture their attention once more and this potential for a delightful little game rushed glee through his veins.

He had wanted a little excitement.

"I agree. Demetri, Felix, retrieve the girl," Aro ordered. "Her companion, if you are able, but he is not required. We will obtain his talents soon enough once we keep the girl in our care."

Demetri hesitated. "I have the barest grasp of the newborn's mind, Master, but something leaves me unable to track the girl."

"Find her. Begin with Vancouver," Caius demanded. "Surely she lives there if the nomad hunted her."

Aro waved his guards away and sat back down while his brother fumed in his seat, much easier to anger than usual, but he dismissed it. There were much more interesting matters to focus on. Demetri's thoughts revealed many things; his inability to pick up the trail the human's mind left, scentless, reckless, but calculated. He sifted through each memory; he savoured them, took note of each second, and clasped them between greedy hands, ready to split them apart.

And the girl's eyes, under the moonlight, lingered at the forefront of his thoughts.

* * *

Sometimes, Arlen longed to stay at home for days without human contact.

She loved basking in the natural light pouring into her home from the large windows and skylight in her bedroom as a low tune glided over her. She had planted flowers on her balcony rails like the herbs bordering the house and kitchen window. Once Vince regained the ability to not kill her plants from rough handling he could help her like he used to. Speaking of Vince, he lazed on the deep navy blue armchair at the corner of her bedroom and glared at the skylight where sunlight poured in and reflected off his disco-ball skin.

"Someone's rather grumpy that he would fit in during the eighties."

Vince rolled his eyes. "We need to revise your stupid plan. I'm not going through with that, Arlen."

"Yeah, you want to outsmart the rulers of the vampire world who've been at it since before the creation of Jesus? Any ideas on how we're going to do that?" She rested her chin in the palm of her hand. "Do you trust me?"

"Yes," he said.

No hesitations, no doubts, everything laid out on the table with his warm amber eyes. She smiled softly and sat on the loveseat directly across from him.

"Listen, I can't tell you everything right now. It's not safe because the Volturi have gifts like you. Ones that would endanger us, but trust me when I say, when you need to know, you'll know. I'm not leaving you in the dark because I have some recklessness left from those days, it's because I'm the only one who's able to block out their talents."

"Fuck." He blew out his breath. "What are we going to do?"

"We're going to play it cool and you'll follow my plan to the T. Remember, Princess Mononoke is a great movie," she said. "But it's been a whole day and a half. I doubt they've caught onto us."

Her doorbell rang and Arlen startled, not having heard the sound in so long, and her brow pinched. No one rang her doorbell without ringing her gate entrance and she never opened that for anyone she didn't know and her friends texted her and only texted her. There was one answer since no one but Vince could scale her walls without alerting her security system.

"They smell like the vampires from the other day," Vince hissed.

"Shit." Her thoughts flew through her mind, faster than a cheetah on the hunt. "Okay. We're fine. Speak of the devil and he'll appear, all that jazz, you know? I'll just open the door and say hello like normal, civilized human beings."

"Are you out of your fucking mind?" he almost shouted.

 _We have a plan, stick to it,_ she mouthed. "Trust me. It's better this way."

Arlen nodded at him before she slipped out of her bedroom and headed down the stairs towards the door. She opened it, resigned to her fate.

At her doorstep were two, tall statuesque men carved from marble. One was a classic Grecian beauty of lean musculature, styled champagne-brown hair, and chalky olive skin with deep burgundy eyes boring into her though he looked much shorter than the gigantic man by his side. She didn't know how Vince hadn't caught sight of the giant. He towered over her and his black hair fell around slightly darkened eyes, stark against his pallid olive skin. He blocked out the sunlight and she had to crane her head to look at his face properly. The high plans of his cheeks, strong nose, and sharp, deep-set eyes made an intimidating man if it weren't for his curled lips, almost like a Cheshire grin.

"Hello," she greeted with a painfully bright smile. "What brought you to my doorstep which you could only reach if you jumped over the wall surrounding my residence?"

"I am Demetri of the Volturi coven," the shorter man answered.

The giant looked down at her, eyes stoic. "I am Felix of the Volturi coven."

Arlen stepped aside and allowed them to enter her house. "You already invited yourselves to my home anyway, why not come inside? Take off your shoes please."

They acquiesced and exchanged glances with on another, their mouths moving but barely any sound coming out, but Arlen ignored it and led them to her living room.

She gestured to her sofa. "Please sit. I'd offer you tea but let's not kid ourselves. May I ask why you scaled over my walls?"

The two vampires sat down, their long limbs stretched out. Their black suits with red trim tucked and bespoke, careful detailing differing them from each other. Demetri's had a quaintness while Felix's had more bold detailing with a dark red.

"An interesting thing," Demetri said. "An incident at the top of a mountain and you escape our planned introduction at the time with your friend. He is around, is he? A shame, truly, for we had wished to satisfy our curiosity."

"That doesn't really explain why you're here."

The giant leaned back into her cushions. "You have knowledge about our kind, that's a certainty, but what do you know about the Volturi?"

She sent Felix a glowing smile. Her eyes remained blank and untouched by her smile. "What do you think I know about the Volturi?"

"Answering a question with a question? A typical evasion but I'll answer your questions, girl. We believe you know the basics and that is already too much to allow you to live."

"Our Masters sent us to retrieve you," Demetri said and his gaze latched onto her with a disconcerting intensity. "We have never failed them before but the Volturi always prefer willingness and civility."

"Just me?"

"Your companion's presence was requested if possible but not required. Where is he?"

"Not here," she said. "I'll come with you without resistance if you leave him be."

"Not here?" Felix asked, amused. "His scent is all over this house."

"Doesn't mean he's here anymore. So, how did you find us?"

Arlen blinked placidly and her smile turned bland. She hadn't managed to protect them in time to prevent Demetri from latching onto Vince's mind and creating a trail but she would rectify that soon enough once she went with them to Volterra. The two vampires smirked, their shiny teeth on display, and their red eyes trailed over. Felix's eyes lingered particularly long over her neck but she knew it was a play. He stood up and flickered.

"Please close all the door behind you," she said.

Felix stopped in the living room. "She wasn't lying. He's not here any longer."

She met their stare evenly.

Demetri smirked. "Well, our Kings didn't order us to take him. Just you. Lucky for us."

"Well, do I need to worry about packing?"

"We will wait until night fall to head to Italy."

"That doesn't answer my question, you know."

"You can pack." Felix shrugged. "Might be pointless. You'll probably die in Volterra."

Arlen inclined her head and ignored the last words he said.

Her plans whirled in her mind as she sat down at the dining table and decided against packing to head to Volterra. She shifted the smartwatch on her wrist and kept her phone tucked in her pocket.

It was already done, anyway.

* * *

Night was falling.

The North Shore mountains overlooked Vancouver and the sea in all of it's glory.

Vince's legs hung over the edge of a steep cliff but he sat down, finally unclenching his hands. His best friend was the craziest person he knew to willingly go to the proverbial lion's den full of vampires who could kill her before she even blinked. He waited for her text, rolling his phone in his hand, as he prayed to several gods he didn't believe in that she would stay safe.

What a crazy fucking girl.


	7. Chapter 7

The jet their coven owned was a sleek and slender thing.

The strange girl their Masters sent them to retrieve walked up the stairs into the jet, unbothered by their presence, and glided into the giant, flying tin can. She strode through the large aisles and sat down without hesitation. She pulled a book out of her bag and folded her lean legs into a figure four. The leather seat dwarfed her small frame as she laid out her book on the personal table dedicated to her seat.

"Most humans are not so complaint when joining us," Felix commented as he sat adjacent to her.

"Do you have a habit of picking on people smaller than you?" she retorted and rolled her eyes. "I'm not stupid. I know what I'm capable of, what you're capable of, and how it'll end. It'd be real intelligent of me to try and fight a seven foot tall giant who can crush me with one hand and a flex of his fingers. We'll also be in a giant tube in the air so my means of escape flip between immediate death from a microburst or you or impending doom because I don't have a parachute. So, I'll be sitting right here, thank you."

Demetri quirked a brow as he sat directly across the girl. "That didn't deter your actions with the nomad."

She shrugged and looked out the window. "When will we get there?"

"We'll land in Florence after midnight."

"What an exact time frame," she said.

He leaned back into his seat as they prepared for take off but it was not long after they reached the skies that the human found the monotony unsustainable. She stretched and fixed her pale, floral blouse before she dropped her book back into her bag.

"Is there a bed here? It's a stupid question but I'll still ask it since you don't sleep." She flounced out of her seat and into the center of the jet. "Sleep-deprived humans are usually extremely inconvenient and annoying."

"You may sleep in the room provided in the back."

"Oh, thank god," she said and wandered off without a second glance back. "I can take a nap."

What an odd girl.

Demetri shook his head and remained in his seat. The girl did not truly matter for their plans, no. Their true goal was the teleporter and when he attempted to save his friend, they would trap him with either Alec's or Jane's power and the contingency of his friend's survival. They'd also extract how she received her information about their world, one way or the other.

Her strangeness aside, she was tolerable bait.

* * *

Arlen woke up from her twelve hour nap in the middle of landing like a ghoul in snake-skin.

She hurried to the bathroom on the jet when they landed with her bag to brush her teeth and rinse her mouth of the disgusting aftertaste of her nap. Her blouse and leggings were exchanged for a trial-worthy outfit of plain black slacks, a loose white blouse with a tie-collar, and a delicate gold choker. She wouldn't want the Volturi Kings to feel offended by a peasant gracing their courts, although, she doubted they actually cared about her instead of what they could get from her.

"Come, girl." Demetri beckoned when she stepped out. "We are short on time."

She rolled her eyes. "I see some vampires suffer from memory loss in their _eternal immortality_."

Felix snickered but kept his mouth shut as he stepped behind her. His giant stature loomed overhead like a particularly threatening storm-cloud.

"A word of advice," Demetri said. "Our Masters do not take cheek as well as we do."

Arlen brushed her slacks off.

"Don't worry too much about me," she said cheerfully, "I've dealt with many people similar to them. I know how to shut up."

The two vampire guards examined her more closely after the statement but she feigned ignorance as she allowed them to guide her to a luxury SUV with tinted windows and they directed her, their delicate package, into the backseat. She folded her legs again and sat quietly for the entire hour drive at alarming speeds from Florence to the outskirts of Volterra until they parked in some dark garage with several other luxury vehicles inside. The Volturi lived forever and probably cultivated enough wealth to buy several countries, what were a few luxury vehicles?

Regardless, she still frowned at the excess and pried herself out of the soft, buttery leather seats she sunk into.

Demetri placed a hand on her shoulder and guided her out into the dark morning.

The sun had yet to peek out of the horizon.

They walked through several alleys lined with small cars and bicycles before they stood behind a palace. Felix bent down to open an iron grate and revealed a pitch-black darkness.

Arlen stared down into the manhole.

"If you make me jump and try to land that, we probably won't even make it to wherever we're headed because my pathetic human body will crumble with my two broken legs or you'll have to scrape me off whatever surface the ground is made from."

Demetri chuckled. "Worry not," he said and grabbed her around the waist. "You are thin enough."

She yelped when he leapt straight into the hole with her in his arms. He deposited her onto the ground, none too gently, and brushed himself off of what he must have perceived as dirty human. Felix landed beside her with unbelievable grace for someone his size and the two vampires led her into the maze beneath the city with practiced ease until they reached a ladder.

They didn't bother making her climb as Felix gathered her without warning and jumped up through the hole above. She squeaked when he dropped her without fanfare and glared up at him. She dusted herself off before they dragged her past a human sitting behind a desk. Their secretary, she assumed.

Arlen stared at her; she was insanely pretty with sharp but delicate features and bright green eyes, her face was like a masterful sketch in the making.

She stood in front of the mahogany doors leading to royalty.

The Volturi Kings waited for her behind them.

* * *

The pretty little human avoided looking up as she entered.

For a moment, he wished to wrench her chin up so he could see the sandstorm eyes that haunted his thoughts.

The sweetest scent wafted and enchanted his senses; Demetri's memory of a scentless, intriguing, pale waif in a half-moon's glancing light rewound into something livelier, more fierce. Roses, peonies, and hints of vanilla entrapped him but venom didn't erupt in his mouth like a tidal wave and his body refused movement when he thought of draining her.

A fire flared in his chest, something close to delight at the appearance of a mystery, but he had called the court.

The trial began and his ponderings no longer mattered.

* * *

The Volturi Kings loomed from their thrones when she followed Demetri and Felix beyond the doors.

There were tens of vampire guards hiding in the shadows of the throne room, their blood-bright eyes glowing from their place like a cat's stare in the dark. Her bangs hung over her eyes, head ducked, and she refused to look up except to spare a glance at her surroundings. The King on the center throne stood with an immaculate posture. His bespoke, black suit clung to his lean frame, crimson accents emphasizing the color of his eyes, but it all paled in comparison to the elegance of his person and the grace he walked with. His wavy black hair fell around his unnaturally symmetrical face. The tall nose, strong jawline, high cheekbones, bow lips, and fox-like eyes formed an absurdly beautiful man. She didn't bother meeting his gaze; the entire Volturi coven consumed the blood of humans and bore their crimson eyes with pride.

"Demetri, Felix, welcome home. I see you returned with our guest as requested," he said.

"Master Aro." Demetri bowed his head.

The two other Kings stayed in their seats. On the left was a wintry wraith with jaw-length, snow-blond hair. He was wiry but muscled with an air of fury hovering around him and the red cashmere scarf and black clothes contrasted his strong, pale, chiseled features. His gritted teeth did nothing to soften his knife-sharp cheekbones and narrowed, snake-like eyes. The man on the right, however, differed from the other Kings. He was a grief-stricken oil painting with long, wavy brown hair brushing against his shoulders and he fell in between the two other King's beauty with strong yet delicate features from a well-defined jawline, smooth skin, and sad, deep-set eyes. If grief hadn't dulled him she suspected he would've glowed with a brilliance unmatched in the others.

"Dear ones, this is human is who we must thank for aiding our coven in the extermination of a nomad intending on revealing our secret to the world. Welcome her to Volterra and our court." The King who was standing spoke again and his honeyed voice raised the hairs on the back of her neck. "May we know the name of the one who performed a great favor to our coven, cara mia?"

"Arlen Lau," she answered quietly.

Every eye in the room bore into her, as if they could make holes with their gaze alone, and the King who spoke glided until he stood right in front of her. She stared at his crimson tie, unwilling to meet his gaze. She might've been brave with the nomad but she was standing in the court of the vampire world's Kings, surrounded by several other vampires willing to drain her dry within the blink of an eye. She knew when to shut up and now seemed like a good time.

"I am Aro and these are my brothers, Marcus and Caius. We lead the Volturi," Aro said pleasantly. "We have many questions for you. Are you willing to answer them, cara mia? Perhaps we will find the answers that we seek."

"Of course," she said.

"Demetri," he called his guard forward and held out his hand for the tracker to take. It took a second before he spoke again. "I see. How interesting. You chose wisely."

"Brother, must we drag this out?" Caius drawled, smirking.

"Patience, brother. We cannot alarm our guest with such hurry, after all, she agreed quite willingly to come to Volterra."

Arlen sucked in a deep breath, her heartbeat slow and steady. He was the mind reader. Panic crawled through her mind but she held it down. It was close to four in the morning in Italy, seven in the evening in Vancouver, and if she stalled long enough, she didn't have anything to worry about.

"I have a gift much like your newborn friend. It is quite difficult to explain but I will need your hand, my dear," Aro said and held out his pale hand, slim fingers flexing. "May you do me the honor?"

She grasped his hand, eyes shifted to the stone ground.

"Nothing," he said after a moment.

She wasn't an idiot but she hoped he assumed her head emptied of thought of our fear or genuine stupidity. Arlen wasn't quite sure how his gift worked but she knew he could read minds and didn't know if he had met others like her before but she wasn't willing to chance it. She hoped he thought she was just a stupid girl.

"I wonder...Jane. Let us test if her abilities hold true. Felix, let us see if dearest Arlen also holds a gift alike to our coven members."

Well, all her hopes dashed with a few words.

The giant appeared behind her without warning, one hand at the top of her spine and the other beneath her chin. He turned her, his hand big enough to hold her entire head if he chose. Felix forced her head to meet a young blonde girl's stare. Jane, Arlen guessed. The girl's lips twitched; a living, vicious thing churned her focused crimson glare and Arlen stared back, unflinching despite the sharp tingle at the back of her mind. Goosebumps appeared on her skin.

Technically, nothing.

Jane returned to herself and a furious glint entered her eyes, jaw clenched.

Aro clapped. "Fascinating. A wonderful demonstration, quite an interesting revelation."

The hand forcing her head up dropped and her stare fell back to her feet. Fissures cracked quite a few of the stones in their throne room, signs of decay as some crumbled into themselves with others left gapes in the otherwise flawless design.

"Enough, brother," Caius said from his throne. "I'm quite sure the guard finds themselves...famished."

That wasn't threatening at all.

"As you wish, brother. How do you know of our world, cara mia?" Aro asked. "Enough to kill one of our kind. Surely the newborn with no knowledge told you. Answer us and we'll allow you to live with the knowledge of our existence. We'll even allow you the choice many are not allowed. To die or to be turned."

She remained silent, a mulish set to her jaw. Felix's hand tightened over her shoulder at her defiance but this knowledge they wanted was the only way she could stall them.

"Well?" Aro loomed over her and his shadow pooled behind him.

The answers lingered beneath her tongue but she refused to reveal them. Teeth pressed tight together as if locked. The other Kings contributed nothing to the conversation but the air was weighed down, thick with tangible tension. Anticipation hovered in the air, the bloodlust surrounding her left a bitter undercurrent in her mouth.

"Felix," Aro said.

The guard grasped Arlen's wrist and her bones cracked from the minimal pressure he applied.

She gasped but bit her lip to contain the sound.

"Answer the question, cara mia. We do not wish to harm you any further. You have the potential to be a magnificent creature in your immortality."

Did he have to use pet names or talk like that?

She already had enough men lay creepy lines like that on her on the day to day and the last one was a serial killer vampire.

"Felix," Caius called out. "She's a liability if she does not speak."

Her wrist snapped, fractured underneath the giant's unflinching pressure, and she gritted her teeth. A whimper and curse passed through her lips. Arlen's gaze dragged up from the stained copper grate over the drain, the hint of blood in the grout, and met Aro's milk-glossed crimson stare before her eyes shifted to the other Kings on the throne. _He_ had similar eyes and she suspected the white-glaze appeared with age. Every vampire reborn under a thousand years never had such a milky-gloss over their eyes. She remained as still as possible; she had nothing to tell them. No matter how much physical torture they put her through.

Aro froze, his brow furrowed as he stared at her.

The other two Kings, Caius and Marcus, startled as if she had electrocuted them.

Felix tightened his grip, almost as if he wanted to turn her bones to dust.

"Release her," Aro said to Felix. "Now."

Arlen paused and blinked, brow pinched.

What was wrong with them?

"Guards. Dismissed," Caius ordered. "Leave. Do not return unless we call for you. There had been a new development."

Felix let go of her broken wrist and stepped back, his features confused and furrowed. Arlen clutched her wrist to her chest and distanced herself from every vampire in the room to escape the possibility of their unforgiving grasp actually turning her bones into dust. They'd reach her in seconds if they wanted but she didn't want any of them touching her with their icy hands and impossibly strong grip. The distance comforted her even if it did nothing. Sometimes she wished she wasn't human if only for the inconveniences when surrounded by supernatural beings.

"Leave us and our guest," Marcus said, voice raspy but softer than the breeze. He stood up and drew her gaze towards him. "We have much to discuss with our guest."

A boy vampire from Jane's side protested with a soft, "Masters."

"Go, now," Caius barked. "Do not question us."

The guards cleared the room in seconds, despite the obvious bemusement.

Arlen took another step back, away from the Kings, with great caution and bewilderment.

What in the fuck was going on?

"Cara mia." Aro took a step towards her but stopped when she matched him with one step back. "Please, we apologize for our behavior. If we had known, we would not hae displayed such barbaric manners and harmed you."

Arlen narrowed her eyes. She inhaled sharply after jostling her wrist as she tried to back away further when Caius and Marcus stepped away from their thrones. "I'm not your dear."

"Ah, so you do speak louder than a whisper. It was lovely in Demetri's memories," Aro said, delighted. "We had yet to hear your voice properly and firsthand, cara mia."

What kind of fucking game were they playing? What interrogation angle was this? What was wrong with them?

They killed actual vampires, their subjects, for less and she was a human—their food source and extremely weak in comparison to them. A gifted human where Aro was a collector but still a disposable human in their eyes. Gifts didn't appear singularly in vampires. Arlen bit her tongue between her teeth and held her hands behind her back, using her injured hand to tap her smartwatch. She didn't know what they were doing and even if she didn't plan for this, it didn't interfere with anything she planned but she still had to stall for a little time.

"Brother." Marcus held out his hand towards Aro.

Caius' intense gaze followed her every movement, even the slightest twitch of her fingers or twitch of her eyes. She knew considering she purposely looked at a door to test her theory. Aro took Marcus' hand and his red lips curled into a pleased smirk like a cat who got the cream. Marcus kept an eye on her, placid but intent-filled, and the dullness to him slowly chipped away. The three of them stepped away from the dais holding up their thrones.

"Don't come any closer," she said.

"You do not have to fear us," Marcus replied gently.

"Come, amore mio," Caius coaxed, unconvincingly in Arlen's opinion. He held out his hand, a safe distance away. "We will tell you everything you must know and we'd hope you do the same for us."

She'd sooner jump in a den of lions; at last she had a chance of charming them and understanding them.

Everything that was happening? She had no idea what was going on and there was no base information to cling to for purchase.

"Not your love," she snapped. Her sharp tone seemed to stop them, momentarily, but she heard they weren't exactly the sanest of vampires at most times. "And I don't need to know anything. I don't know if you could tell, but I have no information to give you, and therefore nothing to say. If you're going to kill me for it, you might as well do it now."

"We can never kill you," Marcus interjected.

She let out a breath of disbelief, eyes flickering to the exits as she held her wrist closer to her chest. "That's funny. You seemed really eager to sentence me to death five minutes ago and you also broke my wrist."

Caius winced.

"Cara mia, it was merely a mistake," Aro said. "Come with us to our private quarters and we will explain what has happened. We truly did not know who you were."

Her eyes flickered to the black screen of her watch.

Where was he?

"It'd be best if you took some time to calm yourself, fiore," Marcus said. "We did not intend to alarm or injure you. Listen to my brothers, this is an important conversation you would prefer in a comfortable setting."

"I'd be more comfortable if I wasn't here at all."

"There is no where for you to run," Caius growled.

Arlen flinched and swallowed. She glanced at the time.

One more minute.

She'd run if it wasn't a pointless endeavor.

"Brother," Aro reprimanded. "Come, cara mia, he did not mean to speak so harshly. Please be reasonable and listen to what we have to say. It is good news we wish to share with you."

Were they living in the same world? They broke her wrist and were ready to break every bone in her delicate body until seven minutes ago and any other day, she would've demanded answers for the bullshit they were spewing but she no longer cared. The Volturi held nothing she wanted and the promised good news meant nothing to her. She was more than ready to disappear off the face of the earth for several months; her stall for time worked even if she had done none of the work she planned to besides throwing Demetri off Vince's trail permanently.

"No thank you," she said. "I really like keeping all of my limbs in tact."

Wind disturbed her hair.

An arm curled around her waist and she disappeared from the throne room, not even a trace of her scent left behind.


	8. Chapter 8

His heart disappeared in a flurry of night-dark curls and Aro's slim fingers clutched thin air.

The ghost of Arlen waned into a scentless memory where she once stood. Even the scent of the newborn hadn't remained. His lips curled back, over his teeth, in a desperate snarl as he tried to summon her and her scent again with his mind. He attempted to reconfigure her presence in his mind's eye with each feature detailed when he first caught her keen sandstorm eyes and the unease in them when she watched them. Aro remained in the place she once stood, too slow to retrieve her from the newborn, and he savored the scant recollection he managed in his head.

"No!" Caius roared and beat the ground, upending stone. " _No!"_

"Calm yourself, brother," Aro ordered, the edges of his own control frayed at the thought of their mate in the world without them or their protection.

"Calm myself?" he snarled. " _Calm myself?_ Our mate has disappeared and you expect me to be calm?"

"We cannot search for her if we rampage and destroy the castle."

Caius growled but reined himself in, fury bubbling beneath his skin like Mount Vesuvius readied to destroy Pompeii and smother the Italian Peninsula with smoke. His own anger rended a deep wound in his chest; the truest happiness to exist for him and his brothers disappeared with a simple step back into the teleporter's arms, her eyes cold and icy. In a moment, everything he lived for vanished before his eyes. The thousands of years of monotony meant nothing without their mate.

"The newborn took her," Marcus said, his blood-red gaze aflame for the first time in centuries. "Demetri had managed to track them once through him."

He stood taller, the polish of his days as Saint Marcus returning with each passing moment.

"I gathered that, brother," Aro said. "I presume she had planned it for she didn't seem surprised by his appearance. The gods gifted us with an intelligent mate."

Pride and pain warred in his chest at the thought. In mere minutes, they drove their mate away from them, enough that she refused to listen to their words, spooked like a doe cornered by a pack of wolves. They had made the mistake of acting too hastily and now, their punishment in the most torturous form possible. He paced, hands held behind his back. How far could the newborn teleport? Where would they go? Surely, not back to her home, but they had Demetri.

"The mating bond has already taken damage from our actins and separation," Marcus reported grimly, his voice strained.

"She is our future and she has absconded without the knowledge of it," Caius snarled. "Fools. We harmed her and she left because of it."

"Demetri, Felix!" Aro summoned, unable to feign his typical cheerfulness.

His two guards appeared at the doors and opened them without hesitation although they stood, a wary air about them.

"Find the newborn," Aro ordered, eyes bright with fervor. "Bring Arlen Lau back to Volterra. Do not harm her."

Demetri bowed his head. "Master Aro...I cannot sense the newborn nor the Queen."

"What?" he snapped.

His head guard held out his hand and Aro took it, furious at hope being snatched away from him so quickly. He let go of Demetri's hand.

"I believe it is the Queen's gift," Demetri said. "She's similar to a shield but I'm not quite sure."

"Attempt to track her down regardless," Caius said. "You had found the newborn before, you will do it again."

"Yes, Master Caius."

* * *

Arlen landed on top of Vince at the steps of her front doors.

She rolled off him onto the the concrete and dusted herself off as she opened the door with a key. Vince scrambled up and followed her inside as she sprinted up to her bedroom. Her black hair flew behind her, the scent of peonies, roses, and vanilla sifting in through the air.

"We can't stay here," she said. She grabbed her already packed suitcase from her closet and pushed open a secret compartment behind all her winter jackets to grab a plastic bag. "Straight over the ocean. No planes. No warnings. We're going to tell everyone that I did what I always do and decided to randomly travel and you wanted to come with because I'm stupid."

"I already 'quit' my job," Vince said and held out her other bag. "I stole this from their jet like you asked."

"Thank fucking god."

"So, where to first?"

"Home. Hong Kong," she breathed softly. "Big, metropolitan cities where our scent will blend in with everyone else. We'll stay in the remote areas from time to time but those are only for when we think they're on our tail."

"Where are we even going to stay?"

"Don't worry about that. I've already called in a favor."

* * *

Hong Kong was a glowing beacon in the night.

Arlen leaned against Vince as they stared at the lights reflecting off the waters. Her wrist was in a splint from the drugstore as she held a strawberry tanghulu from the nearby night market as she nibbled at it. She sighed and held her suitcase between her legs. The light pollution of the city drowned out the stars as the crowd bustled by, some people staring at their strange position on the harbour. They clearly weren't tourists but they also weren't locals.

"What are we even waiting for?" Vince muttered.

"Someone who owes me several favors," Arlen answered casually, eyes scanning the crowds passing by. "Don't worry. I messaged him on my burner before we left Vancouver to let him know that we landed here."

"What does he look like?"

"Early thirties, black hair, tan skin, brown eyes—"

"There you are, Ai-ling!"

"Is he talking to you?"

Arlen turned around and met warm brown eyes set in a kind face. Smile lines framed a brilliant smile and black hair slicked back to reveal a smooth, unblemished face and strong eyebrows. A good-looking man with a long, lean frame clad in a bespoke suit strolled over to them, breaking through the crowd.

"Andy, long time no see. I hope you haven't done anything you need me to save you from again."

He smirked as he stopped in front of her, towering with his height. "Not that long. Only a year since your little...adventure here. Have you been causing trouble since?"

"Ironic, coming from you," she said and gestured towards Vince. "This is Vince. He's my companion for this trip."

"I hope she doesn't drag you into her...adventures."

"Too late for that," Vince said dryly.

"I'm surprised you're agreeing with this favor."

"Well, this is the least dangerous favor that's ever been called in," Andy laughed and held out a key card. "Considering what I've seen you get involved in, this was a nice surprise and that room won't be used for a while."

She took the card from him, smirking teasingly. "You did almost throw up into the sea."

"I didn't believe Tokyo Drift on the water was possible." He rubbed the back of his neck, smiling softly. "Well, you'll let me know if you need anything, right?"

"Oh, I'll definitely bring my trouble to your doorstep if that's what it comes to. Don't you worry about that."

He laughed. "It's nice to see you again but I have to get home. It's been a long day."

"Eat well and get some rest," she waved him off. "Let's catch a meal together while I'm still around."

Andy nodded at Vince before stepping away and disappearing into the crowd. Vince glared down at her, suspicious, but she smiled up at him, dimples making her look even more innocent and angelic.

"Where are we staying?"

"The Grand Deluxe Harbour Suite in The Peninsula." She pointed over the water to a large building, barely visible from the distance. "Right over there."

"Arlen, we're fugitives from the vampire world. Why are you getting us a room at a five star hotel?"

"I didn't pick it." She shrugged. "I just called in a favor and he gave us a room. Am I supposed to be ungrateful and ask for something else?"

He grumbled and grabbed her hand. "What the fuck does he even owe you that he got you a room like that for three weeks?"

"A lot," Arlen said, smiling secretly. "Considering I basically saved his life with my boating license."

"And what does he do besides being a hotel manager or whatever that required you to save his life? God, what fucking happened when you went crazy for that year and a half."

"I don't know. It's none of my business, that's for sure." She shrugged. "Anyway, that's what happens when you hit a rebel phase. You just do everything."

"Like swimming with sharks?" he asked dryly as he grabbed her hand.

"That one I didn't do willingly and you all didn't answer my texts so I had no choice. You could've just answered my texts instead of thinking I was on crack and then I could've told you to tell Jason, the son of the Canadian consul in India, and he would've easily—"

"Will you let that go?" He sighed.

"I will hold that against you until the day I die," she promised. "Now, since you don't want to hear me complain, let's head across the harbour and brainstorm as to where we're headed next."

"Can't we just stay in Hong Kong?"

"No. Not when they're after us for breaking their laws."

"We'll be fine for now, won't we? It's a big world."

"Not big enough," she said darkly.


	9. Chapter 9

The walls of Volterra barely contained his rage with its cracked, diminishing stone.

Caius lingered in the deepest level of the Volturi's personal library with his brothers. He gripped the edges of the marble table. Some days he imagined her in the corner of his eyes and daydreamed his fingers twined in the dark of her hair, his shale digits pressed into the soft of her moon-pale skin as he traced words and figures into her skin. He often wondered about her habits, what she enjoyed in her free time, what made her happy, and everything under the sun. As long as it was about her. He had drawn her hundreds of times but never had one satisfied him; he never caught the brightness of her sandalwood eyes, the thousands of shades of black and blues in her hair, or the tender vein that ran through her body.

Absence made the heart grow fonder but that wasn't quite true. Absence drove him mad.

Four months of agony passed by.

Like an open wound salted with each day that passed without her.

His vampiric memory did not hold the image of her well enough to please him. Somehow, it almost seemed faded even though vampiric memory was _perfect._ Each second she spent away from their presence caused a part within himself to writhe in pain, his patience chiseled to the marrow as he longed to gaze at her for hours upon end and catch the light in her hair. He leaned back into his chair, hair brushing his face.

And he was inexplicably angry at her for daring to cause him such pain.

Someone knocked on the door and he shot up, red eyes boring into the wood.

"Enter," Aro said as he tensely flipped a page.

Even his brother could barely mask his upset any longer. Demetri entered with a moment of hesitation; all of their guard, as of late, were tentative in approaching any of them besides the witch twins. He bowed, his black and red cloak in one arm.

"I apologize, Masters. I've come to report my failure to capture the Queen once again as I lost their trail. I am unable to locate the newborn or even bring to mind the Queen's scent any longer."

"Where were they last?" Caius snarled.

"I believe in London, England, Master Caius."

"Now?"

Aro's feigned calm fooled no one as he set his book back down.

"I believe they returned to Eastern Asia if their pattern remains the same. The sole time I managed to catch a thread of the newborn's mind while in the Americas, it was severed and the Queen was scentless still."

"They keep disappearing before we can reach them." Caius' jaw shifted. He appreciate the idea of a canny, quick-witted mate who could outsmart the guard if only it wasn't being used against reuniting them. "What are they doing?"

Aro sighed and settled. He had subsided between upset and melancholy for the past four months, always asking nonsensical, yearning questions about their mate that was only answerable if she were with them in Volterra. His brother shifted into ponder and moping and abject absurdity he could no longer handle without Marcus' calm tempering their personalities into something more tolerable.

"How will she learn of our bond if we cannot even find her?"

"We must devise another plan to incapacitate the newborn but we do not know his weakness."

"Her wariness, brothers, existed long before we met her in the throne room," Marcus mused. "I believe her knowledge of our kind enlightened her of our power within out world along with our ruthlessness. She expected us to harm her and we met those beliefs with our nature."

"Do not remind me," Caius snapped, morose and angry. "I ordered Felix to injure our mate. I know of my mistake."

Their mate resembled a delicate flower, a rose that wilted at a simple graze of wind, and he feared for her, for them, due to her constitution. Her sharp tongue and bravery, according to Aro, did nothing to belie her daintiness, a figure of lace and silk that slipped from their fingertips. The moment one of their enemies captured her, they would surely perish due to her humanity.

"Perhaps," Marcus said, "we must do nothing."

"Do nothing?" Caius snapped. "She is our mate! Do you hear yourself Marcus? We will fall into catatonia if she dies."

"Yes," Marcus replied, severe. "It seems our actions have instilled fear into our mate and she has chosen flight and avoidance the longer we pursue her. Perhaps she will return to her creature comforts and home should we rein in our attempts to pursue her trail."

He scowled, teeth grinding in his mouth. "Fine but if it does not work, then we will return to searching."

"Demetri," Aro said to the tracker who had remained. "Do not track them any longer. We have another mission for you."

"Of course, I am at your service, Masters."

"You will surveil her home in Vancouver. Perhaps she will return there willingly. Come, brothers. It's time we went back to our duties and play our parts."

* * *

The night lights of Tokyo lit the skies.

Vince towered over her in his winter jacket, black slacks, and the loose, navy blue silk button-up she forced him to wear, and he kept the first few buttons open to reveal the silver chain draped over his collarbone. Arlen's long-sleeved, silk flower blouse and trench coat hid her cast and her leggings hugged her body, skin tight, as she drifted through the winter streets and he followed closely behind her. He pretended like he wasn't hovering and she pretended he wasn't overprotective; an excellent trade-off if one asked Arlen. She flounced with her phone in hand as she flicked through her social media with her bad hand.

She updated her Instagram with a profile selfie with Tokyo as a partial background, her eyes closed, before she closed the app.

"I can't believe you somehow made your wrist worse," he grumbled.

"Need I remind you that you're the one who got us into that mess? You're the one who pissed off the moose who picked the wrong person to blame and charge at!"

He sniffed and kept walking by her side as they passed through a little alley. She flicked through her phone as they strolled through the city and took in the fresh scents of the clean residential streets leading deeper into the real city where humans scurried in flocks on the sidewalk and in the shops. Except, something caught her eye on her phone and she shoved it in Vince's face.

"New internet cafe in South Korea! Let's play some games!"

Vince sighed. "Arlen, you idiot, you have a cast on. How are you going to even play?"

"I can still play," she said. "And I haven't played Age of Empires in so long... it makes me so sad and Instagram loves when you promote tech and games."

"What will you do if they find you through social media?"

"They're probably older than parchment and don't know what social media is. Do you think they're promoting the existence of vampires on Instagram?"

He rolled his eyes.

She held a cup of pearl milk tea in her good hand and sipped at it before she tucked her phone back into her pocket. "It's too bad you can't consume human food." She pouted as she held out her bubble tea. "I can't try more flavors."

"Fuck you."

"Oh, shut up, I saw how smug you looked when you took all the high scores in that arcade." She made a finger gun at him. "All the arcade games have VLD as the top score by miles. Competitive much?"

"It's the one good thing that came out of being an overgrown mosquito." He smirked and rubbed the back of his neck. "So, what are we going to do now?"

"I want sushi."

"Then the internet cafe?" he asked wryly. "Well, you'll have to do all the speaking in South Korea, Miss I'm-Fluent-in-Six-Languages."

Arlen smiled. The city light glittered like stars in her eyes and she leaned against him, laughing when he caught her with an exasperated sigh. "I mean, better than the time I watched a drug lord do cocaine from some girl's bellybutton three years ago in New York. We'll actually have fun and I know you're having fun!"

"Hilarious how we're having more fun when we're fugitives than in our normal lives," he said. "What's after South Korea?"

"No idea, it's your choice after that."

"How do you feel about mountain climbing in Sichuan?"

She tapped her chin. "How long should we stay there? We also need to keep picking places with terrible weather for you. Maybe we should head back to Russia?"

"No, they might search for us there."

"We'll figure it out later. Spend a week or two here and there."

He clicked his tongue and held out his hand. "Alright. Later, then. Now, give me your phone so we can take photos for the group chat and Instagram."

She handed her phone over and squinted when he accidentally caught her with the flash. "Retake that! Is my whole face in it?"

"I know better than that." He rolled his eyes. "Let's get your sushi so we can go game for a week straight."

Arlen gently stretched her fingers to the night sky, as if she could touch the barely visible stars. The two of them would be okay. They would survive.


	10. Chapter 10

Deep in the Chinese province of Sichuan, the earth opened it's mouth in the form of mountains.

Sharp rocks pierced the sky as trees rooted deep in the rich soil. Leaves littered the ground beneath soft, freshly fallen snow. Two silhouettes prowled under the canopy of snow-dusted branches, their steps soundless until the sunlight pierced through and one appeared as though they were covered with crushed diamonds when hit with light. Arlen wore a full archery hanfu in pristine white and crimson red, and the light fabric clung to her tensed form. Red ribbons bound her sleeves to her wrists as she held a white-stained wooden bow in her hands and a black leather quiver slung over her back. Vince wasn't quite as dramatic with his all-black outfit of trousers, skin-tight shirt, and parka. He followed Arlen's footsteps to the tee and observed her with a prudent eye.

"Was that grandma really right about the fact you have good form?"

"Why don't you watch and see?"

Arlen ducked her head beneath a branch and peered into a clearing, spotting the black hair of a boar nestled among the fallen leaves, twigs, and snow. She drew an arrow from her quiver and crouched low, one leg extended.

"How do you even know about this place?"

She notched her bow and drew it back. The arrow flew, cutting wind, and when the boar turned it's head, the arrowhead struck it's eye.

"I grew up in Guangxi." She stood up and glanced at him. "In the mountains first and the city second."

"How'd you convince them to let you rent out a house to stay in the mountains?"

"I talked to them and gave them money. I've been told that I can be very convincing."

Vince sighed but Arlen didn't know why he still tried when she wasn't answering earlier and she dodged every question. He had followed her with similar trains of thought and while she had played along by answering some, it was a lot more fun to simply frustrate him with vague answers. One would think he'd learn how sealed her lips were.

"Aren't you tired of people never really knowing you?"

"You know me, you just don't know how I got here. Anyway, how can I be tired? It's so fun seeing you trying to wrap your head around it all. You can take guesses though and I'll tell you if you're right." She walked over towards the pig and pulled out her arrow. "Anyway, your dinner."

"You want me to drain it?" he asked flatly.

Arlen shrugged. "It's already dead and has to be drained anyway so I can butcher it. This way we can both eat."

He picked up the boar with ease despite it's size and sunk his teeth into the jugular, drinking with a delicacy despite the fierce glint in his eyes. Vince pulled away and wiped his lips with the back of his hand. "Anyway, how do you even know how to shoot a bow and arrow?"

"I volunteer every Chinese New Year at the temple to demonstrate the tea ceremony, archery, and playing the guzheng. So, yeah, I had to learn how to shoot. Anyway, it's not like it's actually useful in modern day society. Is there ever a situation where you need a bow and arrow in the city? No. Not when guns exist."

He took the tissue she handed him and touched up his face. "Now that I think about it, you know a lot of absolutely useless things. Besides basic adult survival skills in a city, martial arts, and shooting things, what can you do?"

"I have no useful talents," she said brightly.

"How did you manage to ever survive on your own?"

"Sheer dumb luck. Now, let's head back to the place so I can chop this up and give some to the grandma we're renting from."

* * *

Marcus lingered deep in Didyme's snow-coated gardens and wandered into the greenhouse.

He tended to each of the flowers in the tropical section; hibiscus, orchids, calla lillies, and passionflowers. He pinched the orchid's stem and cupped the bulb. The sunlight pierced through the glass and hollowed the petals, every vein within the thin corolla unfurled before his eyes. What flowers did their mate prefer? Did she even like flowers at all? Would she want her own gardens or greenhouse? Everyday, he lived with questions about her plaguing his mind, and he did not have doubts his brothers were the same, especially since Aro voiced his thought outloud.

A knock drew him out of his thoughts and he turned his crimson-red eyes to the guard in the greenhouse entrance. Felix barely scraped through the small door unscathed but managed to hold himself with his vampiric grace.

"Master Marcus." Felix bowed. "Master Aro wishes for your presence in the library."

"There is no need to escort me," Marcus said. "I will return."

Felix bowed again and disappeared from sight.

Marcus sighed and let go of the orchid. He ghosted his way through the gardens and back into the castle through the stone corridors, their tomb-like grey further quieted his already melancholy thoughts. The library doors opened beneath his hand and he joined his brothers coiled around the fireplace, taut as rope. Aro nodded while Caius burrowed further into his book.

"Why have you summoned me?"

"Heidi requested our presence for a critical matter that has come to her attention."

"And where is Heidi now?"

"I apologize for the wait, Masters," the familiar lilting voice sang as the library doors opened once more. Heidi strode in, her long legs peeking through her silken dress. "I had to retrieve some information before I arrived."

"Heidi, what news do you bring us today?" Aro smiled, strained.

"Masters." Heidi bowed her head and held out a metal rectangle. "I found something about the Queen while I searched for tourists."

"Why would a modern, human contraption aid us in our search for our Queen?" Caius set down his book.

"She's rather popular." Heidi smiled secretly. Her mahogany curls were bound in a loose, elegant bun. The metal rectangle, a smartphone if he remembered correctly from Aro's rambles about the delights of human inventions, lit up under her fingers before she handed it to Aro. "Over a million followers on a social media platform."

Aro revealed the screen to them and Marcus' eyes refused to shift from the glowing screen, his mouth dried of venom. His fingers reached out and caressed the cold metal of the cellular device.

"Wonderful," Aro breathed. He cradled the phone as if it were a precious gem of his antique collection hidden deep within the secret crypts of Volterra. "Heidi, have these photographs pulled and made real."

"Of course, Masters, you may keep the phone," she said with a gentle smile. "We will find our Queen."

She turned away and disappeared once more, leaving them to their yearning.

Aro placed the phone on the table and Marcus flicked through the page. Several photos of her lined them; most featured the profile of her softly sloped nose, hooded eyes with smoky lashes, and pouted lips. She never allowed the capture of her full face as some focused on the background with her as an afterthought, and some never touched her face as she walked ahead, overshadowed by cities or landscapes.

He drew in every portrait of her like heady ambrosia.

The latest one showed her standing over snowy mountains with a bow and arrow in hand, primed and aimed over the muted landscape of winter extending for miles. Her traditional Chinese clothing fitted her snugly at the waist, tied with a crimson belt, stark against the white of her clothes and the black quiver slung over shoulder hugged her back. Marcus' eyes persisted and peeled back the layers of the photo, taking in every detail. Perhaps he needed to further delve into history and arts outside of Europe if their mate immersed herself in such culture and history.

"Where is she?" Caius growled.

Marcus shook his head. "I have said, brother, we must stop our pursuit of her trail."

Aro clapped his hands together. "Perhaps, brothers, it is time we meld with the modern world to further understand our mate. We will learn of the modern contraptions." He paused. "I suppose I shall amend my statements. You, my brothers, need education in the ways of the modern world."

"Why do you suggest that?" Caius tapped the table, irritated.

"Aro is correct," Marcus said, "I believe we will find ourselves thankful once we find her. We have much to learn."

"And I." Aro stood and gestured towards himself benevolently. "Will aid you in such an endeavor."

Marcus turned back towards the phone, his gaze beyond the pictures.

He longed to see her and speak to her.

* * *

A stream carved through the mountains into a heated pond beside their temporary home.

The pines and birches surrounded the stone fixtures, all lightly dusted with snow, while winter vegetables languished in the fields connected to the housing. A fire hid beneath a stone hut and smoke curled outwards while a metal box sat amongst the flames. Vince stood at the side of the pond, on the dusted concrete ground, and watched over Arlen imperiously. She clutched a corked glass jug to her chest as she hopped over the slicked rocks set into the ponds and propped the jug against a rock, submerged in the warm waters before she danced over the rocks once more. She leapt back onto land where Vince waited and she grinned as he caught her mid-air and set her on the ground.

"You could've split your skull," he reproached.

"But I didn't."

"Where the fuck did you even learn any of this?"

Arlen hopped over the stone ledge towards the fire. "I'll tell you a secret."

"Fucking finally."

"It's how I learned about vampires."

"What?" he asked blankly.

She smiled. "I didn't say I'd explain it."

"I hate you and your non-answers."

Arlen laughed, head thrown back and picked the box out of the fire with tongs and set it on the ground. She cracked it open from the seam to reveal tender pork marinated in a red chili sauce with napa cabbage. She scooped it out into a bowl she had set aside with cooled rice and sat on the ground across from Vince. He smiled slightly and stretched out his leg.

"I'll interrogate you when you're done eating."

"Think we should head back to Hong Kong in a week?" she wondered aloud.

The Volturi would never reach them in time if they stayed deep in the Chinese mountains when Vince could teleport them across the world with ease or simply into a populated area where they couldn't reveal themselves. She didn't know what they would do when they returned to their normal lives in Vancouver but she had time to plan and she had to create contingency plans for when she wouldn't have Vince around. They couldn't keep running, not when their friends were asking so many questions.

"Hong Kong next week it is."


	11. Chapter 11

Arlen stood on the steps leading to her front door, rolling her shoulders.

Vince's mouth still hadn't closed since they teleported in from Hong Kong. She slipped her key into the lock and the first set clicked before she placed her thumb behind the handle. Another set of locks clicked and she pushed open her doors, entering her house for the first time in six months. She dragged her hand over the entryway table and when her fingertips came back covered in dust, she winced and rubbed it off before taking off her shoes.

"Ah, home sweet home." She squawked when Vince bumped her out of his way.

"I can't believe you convinced me to go to the sketchiest even I've ever been to in my life, which is saying something, as the last thing we did while on vacation," he grumbled and set down their bags by the living room entrance. "They were all shady as shit. I had never seen more crooks in one place."

"We were technically fugitives," she pointed out. "We did fugitive things and now a lot of people owe us big favors. You had fun too. Admit it."

"Rich people are fucking crazy because there aren't consequences for them," he said. "Of course they're fun."

She shrugged and scrutinized the entryway. Arlen picked up a felt strip from her door before she slipped it back in the door hinge where it fell from. She slid into the living room where Vince already turned on the television and curled her toes into her plush rug, stretching all her limbs out.

"You're so paranoid." He loosened his tie and flopped onto her sectional, completely laid out. "God, I wish I could sleep."

"Not paranoid if there are people really out to get you." She dropped in beside him and cuddled into his marble-hard body. "Also, we'll need to call for a housekeeper especially if you're planning on moving in with me."

"Is she safe?" He looked at her from the corner of his eyes.

"Would I let her even step within ten feet of my gate if she wasn't?" She quirked a brow and laid her head on his extended arm. "Now, shhh. I'm going to take a nap."

"You talk in your sleep, I hope you know."

She rolled her eyes and unpocketed her phone to send a quick text to their group chat before tossing her phone away. She hadn't been home in a while and she needed a little downtime not filled with constant moving and interacting with others. Arlen shut her eyes and breathed in the scent of home.

_We're back in black, baby._

* * *

Arlen parked her Lexus on the flat, empty driveway leading to Lila's home.

It was a modern work of art. No one would know that better than her.

The smaller size of the three bedroom, three bathroom two-storey house contributed to the sharp architectural design of a dark modern house with straight, clean lines. Arlen and Vince stepped onto the low concrete porch decorated with flowers hanging off the rails and dug out her key to open the smooth, walnut wood door to a bright and airy entryway, lit from the skylight overhead. A hand-painted mural of a blossom tree meadow enveloped the entryway walls and she ran her fingers over the varnished oil paint. It remained the same after all these years after they finished their 'Bob Ross Paint Night'. Lila's house was her favourite project from basement to the second floor as each room flowed into each other with a softness.

She took off her shoes and padded into the white, pink, and rose gold living room where everyone else lounged on the gigantic cloud-white sectional surrounding a blush-pale rug. Elsie lounged beside Lila and her newly dyed pink hair fell over the edge of the sofa and Arlen tugged on it lightly as she walked by. Tao stretched out his legs over the edge with his wildly silver-streaked black hair falling into his pale brown eyes and he opened his arms in greeting.

"Arlen, Vince, you're back!" he said.

"That's what I sent into the group chat," she said idly and tugged Vince down to sit with her.

"Vinny!" Elsie said. "Glad to see you're alive."

"Yeah, man, you quit your job without warning," Tao commented.

Vince shrugged. "A demanding little gremlin wanted to go straight to London then wherever she wanted to go."

"So, Arlen, you took Vince and went on a spontaneous six month vacation without an explanation," Lila deadpanned. "Want to explain now?"

"And what about it to explain? I had fun." Arlen tapped her chin thoughtfully. "We might do it again."

"Take me with you next time!" Tao demanded.

Arlen blinked at him. "We climbed the Chinese mountains, stayed for two weeks, butchered our own meat after hunting, and picked our own vegetables."

"Oh." He wrinkled his nose. "Never mind me, then. I'd probably end up at the bottom of the mountain from falling and I'm a city boy."

"Is everyone forgetting the fact those two actually enjoy physical activity?" Elsie said, hair tossed over her shoulder. "They _run_."

"Oh, shut up." Arlen pushed her lightly. "You go to the gym."

"I don't run."

Arlen laughed.

Someone banged on the front door. "Open up, I have the goods!"

"Dramatic." Vince rolled his eyes, the contact lenses covering the deviation with ease, and stood up to answer the door. "What do you have there?"

Isaac peacocked in, clear bags hanging from his wrists. "Bubble tea! For my love, Arlen, beautiful as ever. Thank you for reminding that you're the most beautiful person I've ever met." His fingers slipped over her cheek. "I've missed your face. Oh, Min has the snacks."

She accepted the strawberry pearl milk tea he handed her and let him crowd her on the sectional. "How were they?"

"Ah, no one is ever as beautiful as you."

"But they blew your back out."

"Yes, they did," he answered shamelessly. "But they weren't for me."

"Pity."

"Here are the snacks!" Min dropped a reusable bag filled to the brim with candy on the table while she placed another one on the ground.

Elsie took out trays of pastries, onigiri, and gỏi cuốn on the coffee table. "Don't worry, we didn't interrogate them just yet."

"They were...you know what I'm bad with time but they came before you by like a minute," Tao said as he leaned over to pick up his pearl milk tea. "It's not like we can do that when it takes thirty minutes to even warm Arlen up to replying without a riddle."

Arlen smiled indulgently. "How about we tell you the basics and we can have a bonfire on the beach in three days when I'm no longer tired and we'll tell you all the nitty-gritty then? We just came back and I'm tired."

"It was interesting," Vince promised. "I'll fill in where she won't. I'm pretty sure she took me to meet the Triads and I didn't know it."

"Th Triads?" Elsie sat up.

Min held her down. "I doubt it."

"She has some sketchy friends," Isaac chimed in.

Lila decided everyone needed her two cents then. "I've met some of her friends in Chinatown too. They're...really scary even to me."

Arlen sighed and Isaac patted her shoulder. "Don't worry. I still think you're pretty enough to let anything go."

Lila gave Arlen's exhausted state a critical once over before she nodded. "No interrogations in my home, losers!"

Tao groaned but Isaac threw an arm over Arlen's shoulders and easily began loudly declaring his love for her before begging for her help with his microbiology-immunology class with Elsie providing avid commentary of his trials and tribulations since they shared a class. She laughed, ribs hurting, when Lila accidentally hit Min in the face with her hair and almost poked her own eye with a straw only to find her pink waves locked into Elsie's hair. Vince sighed and tried to help Min untangle the two girls before they began their movie night.

* * *

Arlen leaned against the hood of her SUV, hands in her pockets.

The overcast sky covered the sun as Vince parked his Jeep in her driveway. He hopped out, almost pure-gold eyes on her. The dilution of his newborn blood was finally settling his eye color into something she recognized more comfortably.

"Luckily you can teleport everything to my place since it's in a storage unit without cameras," she said. "You have fun with that while I head down to Chinatown. I have some business to deal with."

"We didn't talk about what we're going to do," he said.

"What we're going to do?" she asked, bemused.

"They know where you live and now, where I live," Vince said. "You going to do something about that?"

"I bought an apartment in the city," she said, "We'll alternate between the two but they'll forget about us soon. My gift, remember?"

"Arlen, you said one was a tracker who could find _anyone_ in the world by the flavor of their thoughts. Whatever the fuck that creepy shit means."

"Anyone but me and you," she corrected. "I'm not as flashy as you but I have some uses. I'm telling you, they'll forget me soon enough."

"Fine," he said, "but I'm staying around the entire time and you're setting me to speed dial, location on at all times when we're not around each other. When you call, I'll appear and get you out if you need it."

"I know," she said gently. "Go inside. I'm sure you need to arrange your own space with all the shit we bought."

"Like I won't finish unpacking in ten minutes." He rolled his eyes.

"Those ten minutes won't happen if you don't get on it. I'll see you tonight, alright?"

"Be safe," he snorted before she slipped back inside her car.

She shot a finger gun at him through her window before she drove off and weaved through the city traffic before she merged into downtown traffic. Arlen grit her teeth through the entire thirty minutes it took her to drive down to Chinatown's and parked on an uphill incline, surrounded bright red buildings. Crowds bustled on the sidewalks but she cut through them as quickly as possible, her eyes glued to her right as she walked uphill and hustled into an indie fashion shop tucked deeper in through stairs dipped between restaurants and others shops.

The bell rung when she opened the door and strode to the center of the clothing shop full of bright clothes. The pristine white tile floors gleamed from the wax-coat as the colour-coded store's stock stretched out around the walls and onto circle racks.

"Here to pick up a new outfit? Chinese New Years is coming up soon." A man slid up next to her from the racks, spindly and elegant in an open changshan and straight-leg slacks. His fox-like, copper-brown eyes rested on her intensely and his black hair slicked back to reveal his other strong features. "You never visit me for anything fun anymore."

"Jiang," she said. "No greetings?"

"We're long past greetings, Ai-ling."

Her expression smoothed over at his smirk. "Arlen."

"Not when it's just you and me," he said and jerked his head. "Come on. I'll close up shop for a few minutes and we can talk in the back."

She followed him to the back after he locked his front door and looked around at the dark but well-organized office. The file-organizers and drawers stacked on top of each other were nailed to the wall while a buttery leather chair sat behind an industrial desk she remembered salvaging from a thrift store for him.

He picked up his kettle from his little corner and grabbed a mug with his other hand to pour in the boiling water. "Tea?"

"No, thank you. You know, I could always redesign this place for you at a steep discount."

"You always offer and I always say no, love." He stirred a spoon of honey into his tea. "So, you're obviously not here just to pick up a cute little outfit like you always do for Chinese New Year or you'd have sent a car to me so we could have a lovely little tea party in your gigantic house before you sent me on my way with my favourite pastries after trying to convince me to remodel this place."

"You need structural reinforcement. Can't have this place collapsing from neglect," she said as she peered through his office and overstock. "But this isn't a social call. I have a favour I'm going to ask of you. I need you to send a message for me."

"And what's that?"

Arlen placed an envelope on the desk.

"Can't just mail it?"

"It's not safe and I thought you'd appreciate the trip to China since you haven't been in a while. I know you've got a cousin and aunt who can take care of this place for the two weeks you'll be gone and I'll be paying for your time away."

"Ai-ling, what's this about? You know I can't leave the country under my real name."

"All taken care of." She slipped him a parcel. "I'm building an escape route in case I need it. All the details are in there and there's someone who visits your grandmother's farm often. Give him the envelope and tell him that the Forbidden City is the only escape."

Arlen shrugged, a secret smile on her lips.

He opened the parcel and rifled through the contents before setting it down, eyes serious and levelled on her with a severe grace. "I thought you quit this life."

"I did. It's for something else. I can't explain."

"Well, I owe you too much to say no."

Arlen placed another piece of paper on the table with a curved knife with a crimson red handle on top and his eyes widened.

"Oh, now we're speaking my language." He whistled as he picked it up.

"Keep the knife with you at all times," she said. "When you see him, you'll know. Show him the knife and say that the red lanterns guided you."

"Alright. Keep your secrets." Jiang kissed her forehead softly. "I'll head to China tomorrow."

* * *

His keen blood-bright eyes tracked the silhouetted movements in the highest window of the mansion.

The phone pressed to his ear and he waited until he heard the call connect.

"Master Aro, the Queen has returned to her home."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you are a regular *reviewer* and you want to read chapters early, I have a private tumblr that's password protected that gets chapters early along with excerpts. I always post 1 - 2 chapters ahead there. This is specifically a bonus for reviewers for supporting my work. You can private message me here or on my tumblr 1800canyousavemydreams (my inspiration blog) for the information.


	12. Chapter 12

The greenery and parks stereotypical of the suburbs of North American cities shielded their presence well enough.

They lingered in the woods and forests around Vancouver. Marcus crouched on a branch, back against bark. It had taken Demetri much longer than usual to locate the newborn associated with their mate which was a concerning development. Aro and Caius rested in adjacent trees with Alec, Jane, and Renata nearby. Demetri indicated to the lone fire on the cold beach surrounded by several silhouettes.

Their mate sat closest to the fire with a bag of wood at her feet.

The firelight glazed her features with all the softness and warmth of summer and for once, with his vampiric night vision, he saw her entirely. The memory of her in their throne room remained stark but the image of her blurred, faded at the edges and worn away like ink on parchment wearied by time.

Marcus tugged on their bonds. Stark lines of grey bound into them, a barely there streak of empty void ate the three ribbons sprouting from her. Such a complex thing between them but the gold base of the ribbon never faded.

"She is rather close to the newborn," Caius said lowly, fury coating his words.

She sat on the newborn's lap, unbothered by any implications as she leaned further into his embrace.

Marcus narrowed his eyes and tugged on the ribbons once more. "Nothing worrying, Caius."

Caius huffed and shifted back to his sulking as they overlooked their mate immersed with her human connections. Aro was unnaturally quiet, merely a wraith in his tree without comments as he observed their mate. Marcus' fingers twitched; how he yearned to touch her, to even catch the slightest graze of fingertips against her cheek or the curl of her night-dark locks.

* * *

Sunset had passed long before they set up the bonfire on Whytecliff Beach.

Arlen struck flint against steel to a batch of dried grass they brought, a bag of wood by her feet, while everyone else set up blankets and their midnight picnic. They crowded along the fireside when it rose high enough, warding off the slight bite of cold, as they passed around their drinks and snacks, bustling around each other until they could settle down on outdoor canvas blankets and logs already set up. Vince sat on a log and Arlen lounged on his knee with her bubble tea clutched close to her chest. He wrapped an arm around her waist and used her lap as a table. Tao and Isaac sprawled over the logs beside them while everyone else laid on the blankets.

"How you could disappear without telling us anything while whisking Vince into the mix?" Elsie stretched out of the blanket after they all settled, her sweater riding up. "God, that was such a whirlwind."

"You act like that was worse than her rebel phase." Vince scoffed and brushed his hair away from his forehead. "At least she took someone with her this time."

"I remember that." Lila snickered.

"You had a rebellious phase?" Tao whirled in his seat to face Arlen. "You never told us!"

Arlen blinked, mid-sip, and waited for a moment. "I always forget some of you were too busy with school to witness the absolute mess I was but also, I wasn't rebelling. I don't have parents to vex with blatant disobedience. I graduated early and decided it was high time to live like a real person."

"I nearly had a heart attack, idiot." Vince knocked the back of her head. "Normal people don't just go swimming with sharks. That photo of you sitting on a shipwreck scared the shit out of me."

"That's on you for not seeing it coming," she shot back.

Lila snorted. "She came back from a three month trip, alone, with five tattoos and seven new piercings and an entirely new look advertising her identity as bi."

"I was out of the closet long before that."

"But you weren't advertising then." Min leaned over and poked her collarbone.

"Traitor," Arlen muttered.

"You think I learned unbuttoned to almost indecency on my own? With such elegance?" Isaac sipped at his drink and tugged at his collar. "Arlen taught me by existing."

She laid a hand on her chest. "Et tu, Brute? After I heard about the way your dates ended in detail from the other parties?"

Isaac choked on his tea and she smirked, smug.

"Okay, but where were we during this?" Tao asked as he pointed at himself, Min, and Elsie. "I don't remember this. Do you?"

Min stared at Arlen thoughtfully. "No, I don't think so?"

"University applications, finals, and your graduations," Vince answered lazily.

Isaac laid back, hands behind his neck. "Vince, Lila, and I searched all over the city for her."

"Oh, right." Min snapped. "Vince was about to lay eggs over Arlen when she disappeared for five days until she sent us a group text saying that she was in Seoul."

"I can't believe you thought a text was good enough, we thought you got mixed up in your sketchy contacts again and died with the way Vince was banging on about it," Elsie added, arm over Min's shoulders.

"They're not sketchy." Arlen rolled her eyes. "They're _interesting_."

"Your definition of interesting aligns with shady," Lila interjected, smirking over the bottle's lip. "So, why did you disappear?"

"Mountain climbing and sitting very prettily on the Tokyo Tower."

Isaac tipped up his bottle in a cheers motion "She's got everything in the bag."

Tao skittered to her side eagerly. "Who cares, where are your tattoos?"

Arlen rolled her eyes and pulled the entirety of her hair up into a high tail. She pushed back her baby hairs and turned her head. "Two around the ears, one below the left ear, and two between my fingers." Her hair fell back around her in waves, caught by the breeze.

"And you have so many ear piercings," Elsie noted.

She shrugged. "It's fun."

"Me too." Lila volunteered and tucked her hair behind her ears to reveal her multiple piercings. "I got the rest of them with her."

"Who cares about that?" Min exclaimed. "What about the Triads Vinny mentioned?"

"They weren't Triads." Arlen lifted up her drink. "We just went to an event with a lot of with lots of rich people and government officials."

"The Triads have infiltrated government positions before," Vince pointed out. "They all looked shady as fuck."

"You all watch way too many movies," Isaac commented. "Arlen's not the type to bring us into trouble she can't get us out of."

"What else did you do?" Min threw her legs over their log. "Besides commit crime and be chaotic?"

"We gamed for one week straight and scared the owner of the internet cafe." Vince took her drink away. "Tell them more. You could win an Oscar with the amount of melodrama you inject into everything."

She snatched his drink up. "Well, I broke my wrist beforehand but I received an ad on Instagram, reading my thoughts, while we were in Tokyo around Christmas time and you know how I feel about Christmas...it's just a capitalistic holiday with no real substance if you're not religious..."

* * *

The scent of fire clung to her clothes long after they ended their bonfire.

Vince carried her inside as she snuggled closer to his back and kept her eyes closed and he gently deposited her in her room. She picked out pajamas and headed into the bathroom. He waited outside the door to make sure she didn't fall asleep and drown herself. After the water stopped running, she stumbled out and he dropped her onto the bed.

"I'm going hunting," he said softly. "Go to sleep, stupid."

Arlen nodded sleepily and rolled over into her bed, sinking into the soft mattress, truly relaxed for the first time in months.

* * *

The doorbell to her gates rang like a funeral bell in her bedroom, waking her up.

Arlen startled among the pale blue silk pillows of her bed, a small shriek in her throat. She threw off her blanket, and stalked to the answering machine in her room with a clenched jaw and tired eyes. She loved her friends, and it was truly too bad, because whoever it was at her door, she was going to kill them.

"Who the fuck is ringing my doorbell at ass in the morning?" She continued to curse under her breath as she headed towards the security panel. The time flashed blue as she stared into the real time footage recording at the gates. The three Volturi kinds stood at the gate.

5:03am.

She didn't know what to do. Was she going to answer or pretend that no one was home? She didn't have any lights on but she was sure they could hear her heartbeat. At the same time, who did they think they were, ringing her doorbell at this time? Vince probably hadn't returned from his hunt considering he normally took around eight hours when given enough time and today was supposed to be overcast so he'd probably take extra time to fill up.

"Fucking hell." She rested her head against her door.

"Cara mia? We'd appreciate you allowing us into your home so we may discuss matters," Aro said.

Were they really still playing at the civilized monarchs who would allow her to live? Well, if they wanted to play that game, she was going to test it.

She breathed softly and her shaky finger pressed the microphone on the security panel. Maybe she wasn't all that lucid with what she was going to attempt but her brain genuinely couldn't fire a single working neuron at the moment with how tired she was.

"It is five in the morning. The sun isn't even up and I barely slept for three hours. Come back in twelve hours to talk to me and maybe I'll let you in but if you try to come in right now, I'm going to disappear again and this time I won't come back."

She shut off all communication and turned off her door and gate bells before slipping back into bed. If she woke up in their jet, she'd toss herself out of it long before they reached Volterra.


	13. Chapter 13

Arlen clutched a warm mug of tea in her hands as she stared out her window.

A cold rainstorm hovered over Vancouver with thick clouds covering the sun as wind wended through the wintergreens and pines in her backyard. She huddled under her black track jacket as she went over the nightmare she had last night where the Volturi Kings stood at her door, asking for entrance as if her doors wouldn't crumble from one good vampire-powered kick. A plate of sashimi and sushi sat on her island as she lounged around, snacking, and her bare legs swung beneath the marble counter. Due to the winter weather outside, her heater was on and it was a little too warm in her house for comfort considering she hated being overheated but Vince had forced her to turn it on.

The doorbell rang and she blinked, setting down her mug and chopsticks.

The last time that happened two of the Volturi guards dragged her all the way to Italy. She flipped open the kitchen' security panel and turned on the feed to find the exact same view of what she had seen in her dream. Clearly, she couldn't run away considering they were vampires who moved at undefinable speeds and she doubted Vince went somewhere with a signal but she shot him a text message anyway, hoping he'd get it if they kidnapped her.

Well, she could still _try._

She slipped up the stairs, running as quietly as possible, just as her door opened. There was the slightest sound of cracking wood, and her eyes widened, panic taking hold. Arlen sprinted, barely up the first flight.

A hand grasped her shoulder and she stared at Demetri's strained, charming smile.

"Why is it always you?" she gritted out.

"Apologies, my Queen, but my masters wish to speak with you."

"Queen? You know what, that doesn't matter. What are they planning on doing? Break my legs this time to prevent me from escaping so they can interrogate me like last time?" she asked.

"They will not harm you."

"Really now? We've resorted to lying? I have a cut cast and x-rays to prove you wrong. Or did they not count it since it wasn't done by their own hand? People who play politics usually don't count their orders as things they've done. Yes, I do know they can hear me, stop looking at me like that."

He guided her back down her stairs leading towards her living room and she didn't bother fighting him once she managed to calm her fight or flight instincts. There really was no point even if she had tried to run. The Volturi Kings and their guard sat on her sectional but she didn't bother crossing the threshold, leaning against a pillar at the entrance with Demetri guarding her back and preventing her from attempting to run again. They all made an unearthly beautiful picture sitting in her living room. Their pale skin, red eyes, flawless features, and too symmetrical faces terrified her to unimaginable degrees but she bit her tongue and crossed her arm.

"You did agree to speak with us if we returned in twelve hours, cara mia," Aro said mildly.

"I was sleep deprived and unable to think clearly, if you couldn't tell. I would've told you to leave and not come back then if I knew you'd listen to me."

When Caius stood, she backed up and sidestepped Demetri's stiff form.

Aro raised his hands with a slight smile. His bespoke suit fit his toned and lean body like a glove, spotless and unwrinkled in the slightest. "I see we still frighten you. We apologize, but we are not here to harm you, cara. There is much to discuss as you left before we could truly begin last we met."

"So, you chased me across the world and then followed me across an entire ocean and forced your way into my house despite not being invited."

"The old myth of vampires needing invitations into one's home is false, amore mio," Caius said.

"I can tell. I'm not stupid." She smiled icily and decided to push her luck with their patience for their civilized, non-punitive ruse. "I wasn't talking about the vampire myth. I was talking about the basic manners of asking for someone's consent to enter their home out of good manners and respect for their person. I didn't invite you in so I don't appreciate your presence here but I guess I don't have a choice since I can't physically throw you out."

Caius look struck, cut quick to the bone. His clothes hid his much bulkier frame corded with muscle and banked violence, everything about him screamed predatory. Hunter, fighter, soldier, and gladiator from the stories she heard about him. He embodied carnivorous except a hint of dejection flickered across his face for mere moments.

"We apologize for how we entered your home," Marcus intervened, his low voice soothing, free of the rasp he had back in Volterra. He was tall, slender, and graceful; his movements swaying like bamboo giving to wind only to snap back into place. "But there is an unsolved quandary we must address before we leave."

"I live in Canada so I'm assuming it's not my medical bill." Arlen's gaze shifted between them and their guard. "Cut to the chase, why are you here?"

Caius snapped something she couldn't hear and their guards disappeared from view in a whirlwind of black and red cloaks.

"Oh, good. They're gone," she commented. "You can just break my bones yourself this time."

Caius flinched. "It was a mistake, amore."

"Uh-huh." Like that admissions was going to stop her from holding it against them. She didn't owe them anything and her wrist couldn't just unbreak itself immediately after the 'mistake'. "Well?"

"What do you know of mates, fiore?" Marcus asked.

"...like the definition of the word or the slang used in the United Kingdom?" she asked, unimpressed. "And is there a reason why you're referring to me with pet names instead of my given one or did you not bother to remember it?"

"Sit, lovely Arlen," he said. "This is not news you will want to hear while standing so far away."

She smiled sharply. "I'm fine here."

"Then I will be blunt. You are our mate, Arlen Lau." Caius stared at her intensely. "The other half of our souls. We were created by the gods for each other."

Aro smiled thinly at his brother and muttered something.

Arlen stared at them, eyes sharp and narrowed. One girl for three kings? The math didn't add up on that one and there were several things wrong with what was being said.

"Sorry but I don't believe you. There's no such thing as soulmates and you should know I'm an atheist so your explanation also doesn't sway me," she said firmly. "That's some premium bullshit you're trying to sell me and I'm not buying it."

Their brows furrowed before they pieced together the implications of her words.

"Fiore, it is pertinent you hear what we must say to you. We have searched six months for even a trail of your scent."

"Sweet Arlen, we are not here to trick you."

"I really don't have to listen to you or believe what you're saying," she said.

The Kings exchanged glances with each other. Aro clasped his hands together and whispered something lowly and they discussed things at breakneck speed, enough that her eyes didn't know where to look and her ears couldn't even catch the slightest pronunciation of their words. If they were smart, they'd even discuss things in a language dead long before she even was a concept on the Earth.

"Perhaps a discussion was not needed at all. We can take you back to Volterra without your agreement," Caius hissed.

"I'm sure you can," she fired back, heartbeat wild in her chest. "And I'll make sure I'm dead before we even get there."

If they forcibly took her to Volterra, she didn't know how she would escape without letting Vince know where they took her and she'd sooner die than let them imprison her. She only had so many resources before she ran out and Jiang wasn't even back with her emergency exit plans. She had nothing in clutch and in truth, she would die before she let them get whatever they wanted from her. God, what the fuck did they even want from her? Her hands trembled despite her arms being crossed and she swallowed harshly, eyes tracing their every movement for a hint they might follow through on the threat Caius issued.

Marcus' eyes flickered before he touched Aro's hand and whispered something beneath his breath to Caius who's red eyes shifted away from her, expression pinched. Almost regretful.

"Do not say something you will regret, brother," Aro said. "We shall listen to our dear Arlen and wait until we are invited into her home once more on one condition."

"Condition?" she echoed.

"That you will remain here, in Vancouver, where we can find you so that we may speak to you again."

She met their milk-glossed stares and leaned away from them. "Maybe."

They nodded, as if that was good enough, and they walked by her through the front door with all the grace and elegance typical of old vampires but Aro lingered and grasped her hand, brushing a kiss against the back, before he disappeared with the other Kings into the evening. She closed the door behind them, breathing in sharply, and clutched her hand to her chest.

Were they really gone or were they waiting around until she let down her guard to kidnap her? Her terrible human vision could only do so much in the dark and she didn't know what they wanted with her, but Aro's habit of collecting powerful vampires put Vince in danger and he was due to come back soon. The entire soulmates idea they pitched to her? A delusion or a lie they cooked up in crazy-town kitchen in a plot to convince her to abide by... whatever they had in plan for her. She didn't know who they thought she was but the enchantment of vampires only went so far on a human after said human spent most of her time around them. Similar to exposure therapy. The knowledge of what she did settled on her and she blinked, fingers trembling. She kicked out the Kings of the vampire world after she ripped them a new one for breaking into her house.

She stared at the crack in her wooden door stemming from the handle.

They also broke her fucking door and the metal locks.

She should've said something about that too.

* * *

Vince reappeared in her foyer, removing his shoes and a bag holding his dirty clothes from hunting.

He tensed as he took in the new scents. Woodsy and citrusy, like the one Volturi guard, and a heavy musky, almost coffee-like scent which belonged to the other, giant Voltui guard, but there were other unfamiliar ones, but they all screamed _vampire._ There was always the undercurrent of inedible compared to the scents of humans and the mildly lighter scent of animals. Their scent being in the house meant that they came for Arlen and if they took her and hurt her, he swore to every god to exist, he'd kill them all.

Arlen's soft, comforting flowery trail was still strong in the house, though, and he heard her voice, clear like a windchime, and he sighed in relief.

Maybe they were simply scouting.

She still had to know they were here.

He walked in towards the kitchen where she sat at the island where she clearly abandoned her lunch and a mug of tea.

"I originally had the plain steel-reinforced doors with several locking mechanisms but I'd like a new double door installation for the front and back with the highest possible security possible. The bulletproof one—no, money is really not an issue and would you be available tomorrow?" She spotted him at the corner of her eye and tilted her head at the sofa in the living room. "Yes. My addess is—oh you found my file? Yes, it's the same address as before. Alright, thank you. I'll definitely have someone home to watch over the process and may you please bring the invoice with you? Thank you, much appreciated."

"The Volturi are back," he said once she hung up the phone.

"Yeah, I know," she said dryly. "Considering they broke in while I was in here and made me talk to them."

"But they didn't take you?"

"No, they fed me some bullshit and I basically told them to fuck off...and they surprisingly did?"

"What did they want from you?"

She went quiet, contemplative. "For once, I don't really know."

That wasn't reassuring at all.

* * *

Marcus stared out the window of the newest addition to a list of their residences across the world.

Aro had acquired it in a rather short timeframe but offering a few million dollars over the asking price usually had people bowing at their feet and asking very few questions. It was a Tudor-revival style home with an emphasis on warm woods, red tones, and gold accents, all accompanied by soft, buttery leather furniture. An old home built in the early 1900s and kept far from the public eye with tall hedges, a brick wall, a wall of trees, and a thick metal gate. His brother had chosen it, citing how it suited their tastes perfectly, while underlining that it was a short drive to their lovely mate's home and an even shorter run if they wished. They lounged in a sitting room as their guard hunted, leaving only Demetri behind with them as he had fed first. The tufted red leather armchairs and loveseats were close to an iron fireplace and surrounded by walnut bookshelves carved into the walls, and there was a large window-view of their back garden of trees, drenched by the rain.

He wondered if their mate's preference for home skewed only towards the contemporary and modern styling of her own home or if she was more diverse in her tastes.

Hopefully they would receive the opportunity to find out.

Aro mused on the possible ways to convince their mate to listen to them without damaging their already tenuous bond strained by the distance, distrust, and harm they already caused her. As for Caius...

If it were possible for someone to read angrily, Caius accomplished it as he flipped through a leather-bound edition of War and Peace in the original Russian with a heavy scowl on his face, eyes fiery. The last time he had seen something anger his brother so was when a nomad threatened Athenodora during a trial where they executed their mate. He had taken great pleasure in the slow death but now there was nothing to soothe his rage or give him comfort especially when the only one capable had sent them away from her home.

"None of that is of consequences if she'd sooner kill herself than return to Volterra with us." Caius set down the book on the coffee table, somehow managing not to damage the furniture in his anger.

Marcus sighed and set down the book he clearly wasn't reading. The topic of their mate's clear dislike of them wasn't avoidable when their purpose in the Americas was to retrieve her and make her return their connection.

"It was foolish of you to threaten her so, brother," Aro chided. "It achieved nothing but potentially hurting our chances persuading her."

"You think I do not know that? As it is, we do not have time to remain here and we have lost progress."

"Perhaps not," Marcus said. "There is a chance for us to grow the bond if we act with care and appeal to her."

Aro's gaze slid away from Caius to him and sparked with interest. "And do you have a suggestion, Marcus?"

Marcus held out his hand and Aro's palm met his, slim fingers flexing.

"Oh, yes, that may work," he breathed.

"Well?" Caius snapped. "Share your revelations."

"A man must always appeal to a woman's better nature in place of arguing with her, brother," Marcus said solemnly. "How did you appeal to Athenodora when you angered her?"

* * *

The next morning, an urgent email appeared on her phone.

Arlen woke up to it, blurry-eyed and unhappy with the possibility of another thing coming up in her life. She ran her fingers through her hair as she read the email and she planted her face into the pillow. Unfortunately, she couldn't just go back to sleep and ignore something like this. Not when they've basically screamed emergency within the contents. She ran through her morning routine before she packed her tote with the essentials, the burner, a shitty laptop, and an old book she had already read, full of notes and tabs. Considering it was so rainy out, she deigned to dress in all-black and kept her hair in it's natural loose waves.

She tugged on her ankle boots at the door before Vince dropped his arm around her shoulders, anchoring her down.

"Where are you going?"

"The library," she said. "Because someone got in trouble and I need to fix it. Don't worry. You don't know them."

"Arlen, I don't know if you remember this, but there are actual vampires who are looking for you."

"If they had wanted to take me yesterday, they could've easily snatched me before you even came home." She paused at the door and stared at the giant moving truck in front of her home before she remembered what she had done yesterday after her lunch. "Well, they're early."

"It's probably because you're ready to write them a check with five fat figures for some doors."

"I have to go." She kissed his cheek as she walked out the broken front door. "Please stay here and keep an eye on them?"

"Yeah, yeah. You brought your umbrella?"

"I've lived here for eight years, Vince. Yes, I brought my umbrella."

Arlen walked down towards the moving truck towards a man giving instructions and she waited for him to finish before approaching with a polite smile.

"Good morning, thank you for coming so early." She shook his outstretched, calloused hand.

"Good morning, Ms. Lau," he said, bright blue eyes trained on her. Strands of his messy brown curls fell into his face from underneath his hat. "I'm Jared McKinney. My team is here to install your new doors. We heard that there was an attempted robbery? I'm sorry if you got spooked but we'll do our best to make it safe again. Oh, and here's the invoice your requested."

"Thanks for everything and bringing the invoice," she said and glanced at Vince. "I'll be headed out since I have important work to do and can't stand the noise but he'll be overseeing the construction. If you need anything at all, you can just ask him."

"Of course. Have a good day, Miss."

Arlen sent Vince once last wave before she got into her Lexus and drove off towards downtown Vancouver. Perhaps she'd get the emergency request for her help and her inevitable confrontation with the Volturi Kings out of the way. Two birds, one stone, and all. They wouldn't fly all the way across an ocean just to leave her alone at her request. They'd find her, that was a surety, but she didn't know when and she'd prefer if Vince wasn't around for them to incapacitate and kidnap.

There wasn't any sun today; another overcast day with the threat of rain.

A perfect day to ambush her in the middle of her daily tasks.

She drove down into the underground parking for central public library before she turned off her personal phone and walked out. Arlen wandered until she found a random coffee shop she never went to and stepped in. Arlen ordered her regular drink, an Americano, and sat down in the far corner, her back facing the wall. She pulled out the shitty little laptop and turned it on, connecting to the cafe's Wi-Fi. It took a good five minutes to boot up and another three to open the default browser but she forgave it considering it was less than two hundred dollars. The terribly cheap price was why she had bought it. It was perfect to dispose of.

She opened up the email again.

A throwaway email from Hong Kong but that meant nothing compared to the contents of the email.

She knew who was contacting her and while she was no longer involved in their business, she was dealing with too much to face the consequences of ignoring someone like this reaching out to her.

**_0715\. The point of formlessness, the point of soundlessness._ **

_0608\. Be extremely subtle, be extremely mysterious._

The barista set down her drink on the table and Arlen sent her a thankful smile.

_**0715\. Contact accepted. 011 852-XXXX-XXXX** _

_0608\. Acknowledged. 001 1-604-XXX-XXXX_

She took out her burner phone and turned it on waiting for a text message.

_**SOS611** _

"Fuck," she cursed under her breath.

Arlen no longer involved herself in business overseas for a reason but in an emergency like this with someone she knew? Once you were involved with them even once, you were apart of them forever, and something like this meant they'd reach out to anyone, including the people who 'got out'. She pulled out her wallet and dug into the slot behind her license for a little slip of paper.

0715 was very well-known, especially to her.

_Ratline #3. 72109353. N_ _22.6368. E113.8146._

_**a.** _

_1738\. N55.7558. E_ _37.6173._

_**u.** _

_Throw away your phone. Contact no one._

_One thousand battles._

She tapped her foot nervously, sipping at her drink, before the burner buzzed and she read the message.

**_One thousand victories._ **

She removed the SIM card from the burner with practiced hands, pocketing it, and dropped some cash into the tip jar as she left without a second glance back. Arlen merged into the crowd and the second she passed by a garbage can, she tossed the burner phone in. She kept her head down as she walked back to the library and went up to the highest level via elevator. In the far, windowless corner was a small table meant for studying and she often went there while she was still a student with Vince and it was rare to find anyone else frequenting the area.

It was still early in the morning and rarely anyone went this far into the library as it was extremely inconvenient and terribly dark, surrounded by bookshelves and blocked off from the window light. The old library yellow light appealed to very few people when most gravitated towards the brighter white lights in the lower levels or the wide windows letting in sunlight. She set her bag down before she took out a small pair of scissors and the SIM card.

The metal blade of the scissors slid between and along the chip pads, cutting through all the tiny wires.

She disposed of it in the nearby trash can.

Arlen laid her forehead against her arms, leaning forward, before she took out her book, _Smoke Gets In Your Eyes_ by Caitlin Doughty. An interesting read, that was for sure, but one she had went through several times since it's release four years ago. She could read while thinking about what the Volturi Kings said in the middle of their home invasion.

Soulmates.

She was a creative and worked in interior design, liked fantastical stories, and indulged in fantasy-concepts often when it came to media, but she was still science-oriented. A UBC graduate with a B.A and M.A in biomedical engineering and Arlen still waded in the heavy waters of the science field when she could from attending conferences and conventions.

Soulmates were concepts explored in romance and fantasy books.

Not something real in their world.

But at the same time, supernatural creatures existed. They were thought to be myths and stories passed down from the imagination of generations long before them but they were real. She had grown up with them, though. It was a lot harder to reconcile the idea of someone made so perfectly for you that they were considered the other half of your soul and for her that it was three vampire kings born and created before the common era.

She flipped a page idly.

There were soft footsteps coming in from behind her, almost intentional with making enough sound to be acknowledge and quiet enough to remain unnoticed. A very fine line to walk. Speak of the devil and he would come but this time she simply had to think of them.

"Hello," she said, still reading. "I did guess that the discussion from yesterday wasn't over but you were rather quick about it."

"Cara mia, it's difficult to go a day without seeing you."

Aro sat down on her side while Marcus and Caius took the seats across from her.

"Hello, fiore."

"Well, I can't leave, so if that's what you wanted...congratulations. You achieved it."

"You chose a location where it's difficult for others to see or find you," Caius said. "Rather intentionally."

"Like you were expecting us, sweet Arlen." Aro grasped her hand, pausing her attempt to flip the page. "It's a nice surprise to see you enjoy reading compared to other modern day humans. It is a past time my brothers and I indulge in as well. Our private library in Volterra is something to behold, perhaps you'd like to return to explore it."

"Well, since you're so well-versed in modern day humans, are you up to date on modern human laws?"

"Why do you ask that, cara mia?"

"Because what you're doing is considered harassment and certainly breaks those laws but I assume that you believe you're above them and therefore, you don't particularly care." She took her hand out of his light grip and flipped her page, barely dragging her eyes off the words despite the fact the Kings of the vampire world surrounded her. "Do human laws apply to you? I'd assume they should considering your laws apply to us."

Caius plucked her book out of her hand and set it down. "We wish to speak to you, amore mio."

"I thought that's what we're already doing."

Aro smiled, delighted, and she suspected he liked her belligerence and reticent behavior which didn't spell anything good for her.

"We wish to speak to you about the idea of mates, fiore," Marcus said.

"And the fact that I don't believe in them. I'll talk on one condition." She dug around in her purse and then slid out a paper towards them. "That's the invoice for the front and back doors to my house. Which you and your guards broke. And before you ask about the back door, whoever left through it crushed the handle and snapped the lock. Vince doesn't use doors as he teleports so it was one of your guard."

"And you will speak to us if we pay for this?" Caius asked.

"Considering it was your guard who broke it, yes. It's the principle."

"Agreed." Aro took the invoice and pocketed it. "Now, sweet Arlen, let us speak to one another."

"I still don't believe in soulmates," she said. "You know, it's a rather romantic notion for the notoriously cold-hearted monarchs of the vampire world to hold."

Marcus set down two thick books on the table from the leather bag he carried with him.

"They're for you, lovely Arlen. Books from our personal library about vampires," he said. "While humans may not understand the idea of soulmates, a fated pull towards the other half of your soul, they are very real. It is much stronger for vampires. Always present once discovered. It's a recorded phenomenon since the early centuries of our existence. There are many mated vampire couples who can attest to their connection."

"Uh-huh," she said, crossing her arms. "So that's your explanation as to why I don't feel it? Because I'm human."

"What do you know of vampire gifts?"

"...enough," she said after a moment.

"You know of mine, but Marcus, here, also has a gift. The ability to see bonds connecting people." Aro caressed her cheek. "What would we gain from lying to you?"

"Vince." She shifted in her seat to finally look all of them in the eye. Her sandalwood eyes hard and cold. "I know of your reputation. I'm not stupid. You like to collect talents for your guard and if Marcus can see bonds then he knows that our loyalty towards each other runs deep enough that I make great leverage against him. Enough that if I willingly left for Volterra, he'd follow."

"He has an interesting talent, I will not lie, but you are what we want, cara mia."

"And how will I know that's the truth?"

"Why must you always dispute with our words?" Caius asked, eyes narrowed.

"I'm sorry for not believing everything that someone says. Because lying isn't a thing."

"Read the books, fiore. We will visit you again tomorrow. Perhaps with the information, it will be easier to understand."

"You're going to randomly appear at my house?"

The three of them exchanged glances when she sent them very unimpressed looks.

She sighed. "Please tell me you know what a smartphone is and that you have one. I'd at least like a warning before you arrive on my doorstep considering I do have a life outside of...whatever this is."

"Of course, cara mia," Aro purred and handed over the newest model of the Apple iPhone.

She entered her information and handed it back over.

"Another condition," she said.

Caius watched her, his blood-red eyes intense. "Anything you want, amore mio."

"I'll continue to talk to you and I won't leave Vancouver but you're not allowed near Vince. At all."

"Does he not live with you, cara mia?" Aro grasped her hand.

"I'll leave my house to meet with you or send him on errands if you insist on coming by my home. But you and your guard aren't allowed anywhere near him unless I say so."

"Agreed." He kissed the back of her hand.

Marcus and Caius followed suit. Where Aro was almost enthralling in his seduction with half-lidded eyes, Marcus was gentle and romantic, treating her like a rose petal that would crumble into dust. Then there was Caius with a burning, wicked passion as his canines peeked out of his lip and graze her skin. Intense and hot like hellfire.

She bit her tongue and took the books, leaving them behind as she went home.

Hopefully they were done working on her doors by now considering she had assigned reading from the Kings of the vampire world and they wanted it done by tomorrow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! If you're a regular reviewer, I have a private tumblr where I update a chapter or two ahead of time, and you're allowed to request access. I also have a regular tumblr and it's 1800canyousavemydream.
> 
> I'll also be gone for a little while because I got rear-ended and it's in-person lab weeks for my uni program. I have to work a minimum of two weeks of overtime to pay both my bills and the deductible because my insurance company won't reimburse me for a whole month or two depending on the person who rear-ended me. I definitely won't have time to write or update. I'm also kind of regretting buying a new laptop even if my program required it due to online classes now.


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